The Disappearance of Any Chance of Having a Normal Life
by Jasper-Stuff
Summary: It's been years since Gaia's fall and the world is still the same old place it's always been. Kevin Holt is a demigod who now has to deal with quests and adventures of his own with some new and old friends. Of course, Why would anything good ever happen? Well maybe a certain Son of Hades could make things easier...
1. As if everything didn't suck already

First off I should say: This is a story that's kinda based on many things, I guess you could say I just love this series and wanting to contribute in anyway.

It takes place 3 years after Heroes of Olympus ( I have no idea how it will end) But let's assume a happy ending with everyone not dead (hopefully)

here we go:

* * *

**As if everything didn't suck already**

There were a lot of upsetting things Kevin had accepted in his life. The fact he couldn't whistle, the fact that 90% of all teenagers suffer from some form of acne, and the fact there will never be another star trek TV show.

There were more pressing matters, sure, but the one thing that was a surefire way to ruin his day was to remind him he didn't have a mother.

Kevin didn't like to think about his mother that he never met, _why cry over spilled milk?_ people say and he wasn't going to waste time on a women who just popped into his fathers life and then just disappeared._ Nope, not gonna deal with that._

So why did he get into that fight today?

Normally, he would have said it could have been the usual reason but everyone seemed to leave Kevin alone about that.

Kevin was in high school, which in America, meant you might witness a fight break out once in awhile. In fact he witnessed about five fights in his life, today was the fourth he was involved in.

Kevin was tall with messy auburn hair and hazel eyes that some people swore were gold colored. Not muscular but in shape, great in PE, terrible in every other subject. He was in his junior year in high school, only one year left and he could leave this hell hole forever.

It was the strangest fight he ever got into, he punched the new kid and the new kid kicked him in the face.

The guy had been hanging around Kevin all week and constantly talking to him and sitting next to him everywhere. Kevin thought maybe he was coming onto him and while he was whiling to give him a chance he was starting to get way too clingy and then he had the guts to bring up Kevin's mom.

Kevin had gotten into to fights before, a couple bullies here and there making fun of him for other reasons but he never got injured in those fights. Unlike here when he punched the new kid and when the new kid was on the floor he managed to jump kick Kevin, almost breaking his nose, and Kevin had the worst nose bleed anyone at school had seen.

"We called your guardian. She should be here soon" The nurse said handing him a clump of paper towels; "For your nose"

"I got that" Kevin replied dryly

Nothing was worse than involving his Aunt Eudora, he'd hated it when she got upset or angry because he was a "troubled kid"

* * *

"You're getting too old to be considered a troubled kid, before you know it you'll be an adult and they take these kinds of things very seriously. I'm not kidding, you could go to jail for those things in two years..." Eudora said to him on the car ride home; "Hello? Are you even listening?"

Kevin stared out the window; "No."

"Kevin..." She signed

He smirked; " Sorry, damn ADHD, am I right?"

"Why did you hit that boy, huh? What was it this time?" She asked; "Did he bully you?"

"No." Kevin replied; "It doesn't matter"

"It does! If the boys at this school are giving you trouble maybe... Maybe you could transfer out?" Eudora said

Trev thought of himself as normally getting along with everyone, well at least everyone seemed friendly.

Except once upon a time, back when he had bullies, they used to like to taunt him with name-calling. Those felt so long ago since all Kevin did one day was ask them to stop. Still, none his original tormentors would ever say anything about his mother, so why did that guy ask those stupid questions? Kevin was sixteen going on seventeen, he couldn't count on his family to defend him, he had to fight his own battles even though he knew fighting wasn't right according to everyone else.

When it wasn't stupid kids giving him a hard time it was his grades or just simply him being unhappy.

But the idea that Eudora actually wanting to give him had been a fear of his for years, not that he would say anything.

"I'm going to always have this problem... You know that" He said

A silence came over them, he could see the look of disappointment on her face. Not even his Aunt who practically raised him could help.

* * *

In his room he stared at the pictures on his wall, one was taken of his dad during his last visit. It must have been three months since Kevin's dad, Charles, had been home. Charles was a photographer, he was known for being a favorite of many fashion icons. He just had an eye for capturing pictures of beautiful women. He was always busy and on the road.

Kevin loved taking pictures too. He had several cameras, that were handed down from his dad, he named all of them because each was different and unique. He favored his dad's old vintage instant polaroid camera.

His dad sent him a new camera for his birthday, it was an Olympus, big camera with a giant lens. But his dad didn't even show up this year on Trev's sixteen birthday, maybe he thought sending him a brand new camera would make up for the distance.

It was on Kevin's fifteen birthday when he came out to his father and Eudora, to say they took the news okay was an overstatement. They weren't angry but they certainly weren't happy about it. They asked weird questions like; _how did he know? Are you sure?_ or just plain _"Why?"_

Kevin hasn't exactly been on good terms since, his dad hardly visits, his aunt doesn't talk to him like she used to. Not anger or sadness, just _disappointment_.

Then he heard a knock on his door.

"Come in" He said taking down pictures that blocked other pictures.

A girl who shared his light brown red hair walked in; "Are you crazy!? Getting into a fight at school in the middle of the day!"

Kevin moved a pictures that his dad took of him when he was younger. Pictures of vacations, parties or for the heck of it.

"I don't want to talk about it"

"Ugh!" she yelled falling back onto his bed. Her name was Chloe, she was fourteen years old and Kevin's only cousin. She looked over and the piles of photos on the ground; "What are you doing?"

_I don't know_

"Why are you here?" Kevin asked back

Chloe sat up; "I'm worried about you. You haven't gotten into trouble in almost two months! What if they expel you-"

"Your mom said something about sending me away" Kevin met her eyes, she had her mother's sad eyes, he hated looking into them so he turned his attention back to the wall; "I'm sorry"

Chloe stood next to him; "Why did you get into a fight?"

"Because I'm a troubled kid" He smirked at her

Chloe was the last person in the world Kevin could complain to, she lost her father when she was young. Who was he to be angry about not having two parents? It wasn't fair.

Everything was so messed up, on one hand he was a happy guy who tried to be positive all the time. But on the other hand, he hated acting happy all the time when he had problems in school, like focusing, not wanting to spend all day in a classroom. And his bad grades didn't inspire any hope, but he needed to do something, anything to fight the negativity.

Be forced happy or miserable. There was no alternative. It was so easy to smile at everyone and they all smiled back, Isn't it better to bury the problem then drag others into it? He tried everything, not be violent, not be mean, he just wanted everything to go right for once.

That was when he saw the picture he longed to see, the only picture of his mother.

It was picture taken by his beloved polaroid camera, the shot had a beach in the background and his mother had long blond hair. She was wearing a giant sun hat, in a white summer dress with sunglasses.

The photo was out of focus, his father was probably moving when he took it, but even through the blur you could see her smile.

* * *

"Expelled" said Kevin.

it wasn't a question, Kevin just repeated what Eudora said

She sat on the other side of the table; "Yes... The school said it wasn't fair if they kept you because of your past offenses"

"I can't believe... What does dad say?" Kevin didn't want to be upset, he didn't want Eudora see him lose his cool, he held in whatever it was that wanted to pour out.

"He says that if you are having trouble again, maybe we should look into alternative schooling method" She replied lowly; "You could try a different school in the city or if you wanted a change of setting-"

"You're sending me away?" He finally looked up at her

She stopped; "No, that's what I meant..."

"It sure sounds like it, Aunt Dora I'm sorry, I really am! Please don't send me away"

Eudora shook her head; "I just want don't know what to do... I've tried so hard to keep you happy, healthy and I thought you were over your rebellious phase"

"What? This isn't-I'm not rebelling!"

"Then what Kevin! Why do you keep doing this! Why do I pay for tutors for you and pay for therapy and medication if all you do is throw it all away! Are you mad at me? Do I not do enough for you! I've done the best I can!" She yelled

"It's not my fault" Kevin said; "I didn't mean to this time!"

"_This time?" _She almost chuckled; "So the other three fights were for kicks!"

"Those weren't my fault either! They attacked me! But you and dad wouldn't care! You two have been treating me different ever since-"

"Stop!" She yelled, "How dare you! It's always something with you!"

He felt cornered; "Well maybe if people-"

She interrupted him; "Don't blame others for your actions Kevin Alexander Holt!"

He hated when she called him by his full name; "If you want me gone then just say so! I'll leave right now!"

She was so angry she was crying; "Why do you always do this! Why can't you be a normal boy!"

He stood up; "Normal?" it was like an echo, she has been calling him abnormal for years now.

"Do you mean not get into fights or not gay?"

"Both" She didn't look at him; "Maybe that's the reason you get into so many fights"

* * *

A hot tear rolled down his face.

But he wiped them before anyone could see, like he always had, he hated crying.

He had no words to say, he just walked into his room and grabbed a duffle bag and threw whatever clothes were lying around in it. He put he put his new camera in, maybe he could sell it, and put the polaroid slowly with a picture of him and Chloe when they were kids.

He stopped at his mother's picture, he could never find her, not with a picture this blurred. His whole life he told himself he wanted nothing to do with her but he held on to this one worthless photo. If she was here would she accept him? Would she love him?

It didn't matter, he didn't need her growing up and he didn't need her now.

He open his door and standing there was his cousin.

"You're sixteen! You can't just take off!" Chloe yelled; "I'll scream for mom to stop you"

Kevin opened his front door; "You don't understand, you never have"

"What are you even going to do?"

Trev shrugged; "Find my dad, find a new school, or starve. Either way I can't stay here anymore"

Chloe looked down; "Cause of mom?"

_Yes._

"No, I just need some time to myself, okay?" He kissed her on the forehead. She looked so sad as we walked away, he wouldn't be doing this if Eudora was happy the way he was.

_I wish I could stop disappointing people..._

* * *

While walking out the door, he kept looking back which is exactly why he ran into the person standing on the porch

"Ow!" The guy said

Kevin looked up; "You!" He yelled, it was the new kid... what was his name? Larry? Lenny?

"Ah, Hi Kevin! Um, how are you?" He smiled nervously, wearing the brightest beanie hat

"How am I?! Because of you I got expelled!" He dropped his duffle bag; "You're gonna pay Louis!"

"It's Loukas! Thank you." He said, then he coughed loudly and stuck out his chest; "And besides all I did was ask if you had a mom, you're the one who punched me first! You, my friend, are a lot more violent then you think"

"Maybe..." Kevin said he bent over to grab his bag; "You still went to far and now I'm getting out of here"

"Wait! Where are you going!?" He asked but Kevin ignored him and walked past him

"I need to tell you something!" Loukas tried walking in front of Kevin

"What now!? If it's you have a crush on me, sorry, I'm not interested!" Kevin said walking around him

"What!? No! I don't have a cru- Listen to me, I think you're special!" Loukas said in a shaking voice

Kevin stopped; "That's doesn't sound weird at all"

"Shut up. Just stay still" Loukas leaned in really close to Kevin no more than usual but others would think it was a strange sight

"I knew it, you're a half-blood!" Loukas smiled widely; "Now I can take you to the camp!"

For a moment Kevin said nothing but when Loukas' smile disappeared he just nodded; "Wow Loukas, I don't think anyone has ever used these tactics to make me go out with them"

"Why are you so self absorbed!?" Loukas said; "You just got the best news of your life!"

"_Best_? You're crazy!" Kevin yelled, "And I am not self absorbed, I've just been asked out by a lot of different types of people and you trying to convince me to go to some camp sounds like a really stupid pick up line!"

Loukas grabbed his shoulder; "Okay, okay. I'll start over. My name is Loukas, I'm what you call a satyr. I was here because I thought I smelled a half-blood going to your school, it was faint but now I know it's you!"

"Satyr_? _Like Mr. Tumnus? And what was it you smelled?" Kevin said, trying to walking away slowly backwards.

Loukas, walked forward; "Yes, well no he was faun I think, I'm a Satyr. We smell you kids out, though you're kinda old for a half-blood to still be out here"

"What do you mean old?" Kevin was interested enough to know where this was going.

"I mean I was told you kids would be caught like around thirteen or claimed earlier by your parent... but for some reason you're not" Loukas stated

"My parent?"

Loukas nodded; "Yeah, your godly parent"

"_What?_" Kevin said flatly

"You're a demigod! One your parents is one of the Greek Gods of legend! From Olympus?"

Kevin's mind drifted to thoughts about his camera but he stayed quiet.

"That's why I asked if you have a mom! Because I knew what she was, she's a goddess!" Loukas said happier than ever

_Goddess?_

"This is exactly why I punched you the first time" Kevin stated

Loukas laughed nervously; "I'm not kidding! Haven't you always felt different? Like you didn't belong or that you had a hard time during school?"

_Too be honest I always thought it was the gay thing._ Kevin thought.

"I have ADHD and I'm dyslexic, what do you think?"

Loukas nodded; "All demigods have those problems! It's cause you don't belong here, you should come with me to Camp Half-Blood, you will be around others like you, you will be accepted and you can learn how to harness your potential!"

"Say I believe, say I buy into all this nonsense... Would I meet my mother?" Kevin asked

Loukas looked around, like he was trying to think of the best thing to say; "I don't know... It's complicated" He looked nervous' like he knew that was the wrong answer, he sighed; "You should come with me and find out"

Kevin looked toward his aunt's house, he could still see it despite walking away, she didn't even come after him. Would she ever think about him again? Would his dad go looking for him? Would Chloe ever forgive him for leaving and not coming back?

_Damned if I do, Damned if I don't..._

Lose-lose situation.

"Fine I'll go with you, I want to meet my mom-"

"Great!" Loukas yelled

Kevin shook his head; "-Because I want to give her a piece of my mind"

* * *

"You know I didn't expect to take the train to this super magical school" Kevin sitting with Loukas

"Camp." Loukas shook his head; "For my first demigod, you sure are more weirder than I expected"

"Your first?" Kevin smiled

Loukas took off his hat; "Yeah, every satyr has to go on these searches for you demigod kids, you're the first one I ran into. Besides I'm young satyr" he said pointing at his head. Two tiny horns stuck out.

"Whoa, are those real?" Kevin asked after touching them

"Of course! You weren't a 100% sure and you still came with me?" Loukas asked; "I can let you feel my real feet in private if you want"

Kevin shook his head; "No thank you"

Loukas just dozed off after that, he something about taking a day to get wherever this Camp Half-Blood was.

Kevin looked out the window; "I'm glad you're weren't crazy"

* * *

_**A/N: Heh heh,I don't know, I haven't written in a long time...**_

_** Opinions?**_

_**(EDIT: I Fixed some errors and Changed Trev's name to Kevin because of some of my friends not knowing how to pronounce it)**_


	2. Worst Gift Ever

_**(EDIT: I Changed Trevelyan's name to Kevin because of some of my friends not knowing how to pronounce it)**_

It's always a little weird writing the 2nd chapter

* * *

**Worst Gift Ever**

"I don't mean to brag but there's the cutest little nymph waiting for me at the camp" Loukas said walking though the forest with Kevin behind him

Kevin sighed; "Speaking of, how far is this camp?"

Loukas smiled; "Not much." he stared at the tall trees.

_Unbelievable_, Kevin shook his head, they must traveled hundreds of mile on train alone.

_Camp Half-Blood, Half-Blood Hill, Farm Road 3.141_  
_Long Island, New York 11954_

That was the address, Kevin never thought in a million years that this would be the reason for going to New York. Well it's not like it's really New York City, they were in the middle of nowhere. It was almost sunset and Kevin was starving, and a little more nervous than he thought he would be.

"So... Have a special person in your life?"

Kevin was caught off guard; "Um... No... not anymore"

"Anymore?"

"Ugh, I dated two guys in freshman year, both short. And last year I dated this other guy...It was nice, but he moved and he didn't believe in long distance relationships... So I haven't had the best luck" Kevin said

Loukas turned around and walked backwards; "Really? A good looking guy like you has love problems?"

"Shut up" Kevin rolled his eyes

"It's okay. I'm sure he was a jerk" Loukas smiled

Kevin felt a bitter taste in his mouth; "That's the thing... He really wasn't"

"There's half blood hill!" Loukas yelled

"Am I suppose to know what that is?" Kevin smiled but after walking up the hill he noticed two pillars standing tall on the top of the hill. Between them, showed a sign that read CAMP HALF-BLOOD

"Wow" was all that came out of Kevin, no turning back now.

* * *

If you've ever been to a camp then maybe you'd know most never meet up with the standards that media tricks us into thinking.

Kevin once went camping when he was a cub scout of sort, He expected a cabin near a lake, lots of cool activities to do and 'becoming one with nature'. Instead he got a week of camping in the woods in tents, no lake but a stream that fish may or may not appear, and the only thing to do was hike. Hiking, barely having enough food and cold tents, who knew the Cub Scouts were trying to train him in survival at age eight?

But Camp Half-Blood was every kid's dream, it was the 'best summer ever' kind of proportions.

Beautiful buildings everywhere, kids running around in armor and yelling in excitement, Kevin thought he saw something flying but it was too fast.

It was the first time everything sank in. The gods were real and this place was real, Kevin was a real demigod. He didn't know if he should cry or be terrified.

"Hey everyone, Loukas is back, don't worry!" He yelled, not like anyone noticed

A group of girls holding bows and wearing quivers on the sides or back, they all wore the camp bright orange shirt. All of them stopped in mid-speech when they saw Kevin and whispered among each other. Only one of them held eye contact with him, she stood in front of all them, one of the other girls said something to her but Kevin didn't hear.

Then the girl in front walked toward him, she had big brown eyes with a pixie cut of blonde hair.

"Hello there! Are you new?" She asked

Kevin nodded; "How did you know?"

"Well for starters, you're standing at the entrance with satyr." she smiled

"I guess my lack of orange shirt also a dead giveaway" Kevin said back

Loukas coughed; "Don't worry man! We'll get you a shirt"

"My name is Victoria, these are my sisters and friends" She gestured at the group, the all walked up behind her, some giggling.

Kevin smiled; "I'm Kevin Holt"

"Kevin?" A girl emerged from behind the group

"Lyla, please." Victoria said but the girl named Lyla stood in front of Kevin, very closely.

Lyla looked African-American, but her eyes were green and she had, Kevin admitted, a very pretty face.

"Kevin is a lovely name, do you know what it means?" She asked

Kevin shook his head; "No"

"It means beauty. But more than that, it means You are kind as you are beautiful" She smiled, some of the girls gasp, Kevin wondered if she did this to everyone?

Victoria stepped in; "This is my sister Lyla, we're daughters of Apollo"

"The god of poetry?" Kevin remembered

"Well yes, we can write a mean poem too. In fact you would be a great inspiration-" Lyla said

Victoria rolled her eyes; "He's actually more than that, God of light, music, healing, archery, the prophecies, and a little thing called the sun"

"I like you" Kevin blurted out, it was true, he could sort of tell him and Victoria would be friends

But for a second it looked like Victoria blushed but she kept her composure; "Um, Kevin... Would you like to go on a tour?"

"Right now? The sun will set in an hour!" Lyla stated, Loukas nodded

Kevin said; "I really want to see the camp"

"It's okay man" Loukas took Kevin's duffle bag, "Go"

* * *

It was strange, seeing the camp, one part of Kevin thought he was dreaming and not really here. It had everything a camp should, a lake, a climbing wall and a volleyball court. But it had some of those Greek touches that only this camp would have, like an arena, an armory and forest with scary monsters.

"Yeah no one should ever go into the forest alone" Victoria said

"No one camps in the forest in tents?" he asked

"No one camps in tents ever"

"You sure?"

"Yes!"

"Better not be lying" he said

Victoria laughed for the first time; "I'm not!"

Kevin returned the smile; "So cabins than?"

She nodded; "There are twenty cabins, one for each god and their children"

"A lot of gods" He said, not really thinking

She shrugged; "A lot of kids"

"So, daughter of Apollo?"

She rolled her eyes; "Don't remind me"

"What? I think that's cool, didn't you say he's the awesome god of the sun?"

Victoria leaned against a tree; "I never said awesome"

"So you don't wanna be a demigod?" Kevin asked

"I do, I just... wish I had a more respectable god as a father like Ares" She said

"Apollo's not respectable?"

She looked a the ground; "I met him a couple times, he acts like he's our age. He's more concerned with flirting than fighting. I'm a warrior, so yeah... I wish I had a warrior to look up to!"

Kevin had no answer.

"I'm sorry, it's not right... The way I think" she said

"Hey, it's okay." said Kevin; "I just hope my mother is someone who has a good reason for leaving me behind"

"We all get left behind Kevin, but I do agree, why did your mother not claim you years ago?" Victoria sounded like she was asking but Kevin didn't know

"Maybe my mother is someone who doesn't want me, Like Hera"

Victoria smiled; "Hera doesn't have kids with mortals, _ever_"

He shrugged; "You never know"

"Well if your strong or smart, your mother might be Athena" She suggested

"I was great in PE but sucked at math and pretty much everything else"

"You don't have to be great at school to be smart" She said

"Hm"

Victoria started walking with Kevin slightly behind her; "Demeter's children are known for being nature lovers, sound familiar?"

"I like nature as much as the next guy, I doubt I'm hers"

Victoria pondered; "You are nice, maybe Iris?"

"Who's she?"

"Goddess of rainbows"

"Haha, very funny" Kevin said dryly

"What?"

"Nothing"

Victoria studied him; "Do you have a temper? Cause that sounds like Nemesis to me"

"No! I mean... Yeah I can get angry but when I'm not stressing over all the crap in my life, I'm a pretty easy going guy!"

"Hm, there's so many... Nike, Hecate, Aphrodite, Hebe or Tyche..." Victoria said

Just she started talking Kevin heard his stomach growling.

"Oh my gods, how could I forget! Dinner time!" said Victoria

* * *

"Oh, Come on!" Kevin yelled

They were at the Dining Pavilion, which was super awesome, it was right next to the sea. There are no walls or roof and several torches on more pillars, it lit up the building beautifully in the night. It looked like hundreds of kids were sitting and talking loudly, none even noticed him. Which was nice, maybe Loukas was right, this was the place to fit right in.

Victoria smiled, she grabbed him a goblet; "Here, tell it what you want"

Kevin stared at it with wide eyes; "You're messing with me"

"No, I'm being serious. Wish for whatever you want to drink" She said reassuringly

Kevin took the goblet, it was a little embarrassing; "The best chocolate milk in the world..." he whispered

He heard Victoria laugh a little. And just like that the goblet was filled to which Kevin tried it immediately; "Oh my god"

"The foods pretty great too" She said, she started talking about nymphs or something.

But his eyes were suddenly drawn to the big fire that was in the middle of the building.

"What is that?"

"That's the Pavilion fire." The two of them walked up to it; "Every night we tribute a portion of our food to the gods by throwing it in"

Kevin looked her; "Wasting food by burning it?"

Victoria frowned; "Not wasting, Tribute. It's the easy way to make the gods a little happy... It's also a good way to get their attention, incase, you need to pray to them"

For a moment, he forgot Victoria was even standing there.

It was the fire, he stared at it intently, his thoughts drifted to his would be mother. Whoever she was, she hadn't claimed him, maybe she was too afraid or embarrassed. Was he not strong enough? Not smart or experienced to her liking?

_Well who's fault is that?_ He thought, _I'm not afraid anymore so just claim me already!_

"Oh my gods" He heard someone say

He turned around and Victoria yelled out; "Kevin!"

What, are you okay?" He asked, then noticing others around her started to look his way.

Some gasped and while some just began to whisper among each other.

"What? Is there something on my face?" Kevin asked, looking down at his hand, it was glowing.

_Wait, What?!_ His hand was glowing, glowing gold, when he touched his he realized the pimples he saw just that morning had disappeared. He suddenly felt very cold when he noticed his clothes were different.

He now wore what looked like a toga but it showed half his chest and showed off his arms that looked toned now. He resembled a Greek statue, even his hair was styled.

"What, Why was I given a make over? Is this someone's sick joke?" Kevin felt his face go warm, it was embarrassing having all these kids stare at you

A young Hispanic girl pushed through the crowd to reach to where Kevin was; "It's Aphrodite! It has to be!"

He remembered that name from reading, _the goddess of love?_

"Kevin Holt! You're the son of Aphrodite!" She yelled with a wide grin

Suddenly some kids cheered and girls giggled, _SON OF APHORDITE?_ Kevin's head was spinning;

"No, It can't be..."

He ran past the crowd as fast as he could but everyone stared, most were smiling, he ran into the nearest boys restroom.

He was taken aback at what he saw in the mirror.

His hair was shinning and when he touched it, it was softer than ever before. His skin was smooth unlike literally an hour ago and his muscles had been more prominent, not bigger but just noticeable.

Even his teeth were brighter... Wait, did she give him an instant brace job, they weren't straight this morning!

It was super overwhelming and just plain weird, it was like someone had picked him up, shook him, and now everything was different.

Loukas walked in; "Hey Handsome, what's up?"

Kevin yelled; "This isn't me!"

"What are you talking about? It's still you... Think of it like, _you were diamond in the rough_" Loukas laughed

Kevin shook his head; "I don't understand why she did this to me" He gestured to all of himself

"So she improved you, no one else would complain about that"

"I was fine the way I was!" Kevin tried to get his hair to stop standing up; "What did she use, magic hair gel!?"

"Pretty much" another boy's voice

Kevin turned and standing there was a boy with dirty blond hair; "Mom does this to all of us whenever she claims us. Or whenever she feels like it."

"Mom?" Kevin asked

"Ahem, Kevin! This is Mitchell, also son of Aphrodite" Loukas said

"Bringing out the welcome wagon already?" Kevin wasn't sure to feel at this moment, there was a part of him thought when he was "claimed" his mother would show up but didn't seem to be the case at all.

Mitchell nodded; "Well currently our cabin counselor is visiting Camp Jupiter so I thought I should be the one to say hi"

"Camp- what?" Kevin's voice kept cracking, he took a deep breath, he tried not to seem so upset

Loukas laughed; "He's new! We haven't even met Chiron yet!"

"Well maybe he should-"

"I can't!" Kevin interrupted; "Today's been so long, I just need to lay down..."

Mitchell said; "Let's go to our cabin then"

Kevin nodded.

"Ready to meet the rest of the family?"

* * *

He didn't see Victoria or Loukas for the rest of the night. He just followed Mitchell out of the Pavilion as fast as he could. He led Kevin to the other side of the camp but Kevin wasn't even paying attention when walking into what most would say is one of the bigger cabins.

"Everyone, gather around!" Mitchell said, eleven girls and two boys came forward.

A blond girl stepped forward; "Hi! Welcome to Cabin Ten! I'm Lacy" She held her hand out for a hand shake

Kevin just stared at it.

"Go on" said Mitchell

"Hi" Kevin finally said shaking her hand awkwardly

"Kevin's a little nervous everyone, Mom just claimed him" He said so casually, like this was so normal and Kevin was the weird one for not understanding

The Hispanic girl from earlier was there, she looked no older than ten. "Hi! I'm Karina!" she stared at him with the biggest smile.

"Hey, How ya doin'?" He said, not really thinking.

They all stared at him, not like the other kids, they stared at him with what looked like genuine concern.

"Do you want to sit down?" Lacy asked

Kevin nodded. Several girls helped him to a bed to what looked like the boys' side. It wasn't as pink as the rest of the cabin, which was good because Kevin hated pink.

_thank god... _He thought

_or gods?_

"You look a bit old to have been just claimed" A brunette who sat near him said

"I've heard" Kevin ran his fingers through his hair; _Calm down, just calm down..._

The brunette had curly short hair; "I'm Lynette, most call me Lyn" she smiled

Kevin looked around at all the boys and girls who stood around him, except there was one girl who didn't bother to get up, she was reading a magazine.

"So... You're all my siblings? I've never had any, well not real ones" Kevin said

"Yep!" Karina said, all of them smiled at each other

Mitchell walked over; "Girls, why don't you all go back to your side. I need to talk to Kev"

_Kev?_

The girls all complied and walked away, some looked disappointed.

"So we all have a bed, we each get bathroom time in the morning, and next to your bed is a chest for your stuff" Mitchell pointed it out

"Uh huh" Kevin was barely listening

"Also, Loukas dropped this off" he handed the duffle bag to Kevin

"Um... Thanks" said Kevin, _now I can change out of these ridiculous clothes_

* * *

Even after showering, Kevin's hair was still gelled up.

He sighed and walked over to his new bed, it was pretty comfy but he didn't care, he was just so tired. The excitement, the surprise and the stress of the day had left Kevin totally exhausted.

He started to fall asleep.

Looking around Aphrodite's cabin was strange, Kevin wondered if this was what her children wanted it to look like or is this what she wanted...

Aphrodite gave birth to him, but he wanted nothing to do with her his whole life. Technically, she hasn't ever done anything for him. Sure, she gave him this new life indirectly but it was Loukas who found him, it was Victoria who told him about this new world, not Aphrodite.

Kevin was okay with that.

_You hear me Aphrodite...I don't owe you anything._

* * *

_**A/N: I drew what I kinda think Kevin looks like, it's on my tumblr (also called Jasper-Stuff)**_

_**Victoria is half based on the video game character**_


	3. Cooler and More Dangerous

_A/N: So you all are probably noticing a lack of Nico..._

_Also! Should I change the title of the story? it's funny and sarcastic like I want but I don't know..._

* * *

**Cooler and More Dangerous**

Before Kevin knew it a whole week had gone by. Not that anyone gave him gifts, a party or even noticed. No one really celebrates one week anniversaries or pats you on the back of training for seven days but Kevin was proud of himself. He felt like he was actually enjoying learning for the first time, he now had experienced Greek capture the flag, speaking Greek and even learned how to whistle!

No one was making it a big deal or treating him different which didn't happen often for a child of Aphrodite. It felt like wherever he went people were staring at him and it didn't help that most were girls.

The only girl who didn't treat him like he was a piece of meat was Victoria.

Victoria didn't brag but she was great at archery, she tried teaching Kevin some tricks like using arm bands and finger pads were great for beginners and pros alike.

"Keep your body straight and feet parallel" She said, demonstrating

Kevin tried to do the same, but he couldn't stop moving, and he was clumsy so falling over happened more often then not. Whenever he tried to grab an arrow it would fall to the floor and forget about him being able to 'load it up' as she called it.

When he finally fired a few arrows none of them were even close to the middle of the target.

"This isn't for me" He suggested

"Nonsense, you just need to be patient" She said

Kevin sighed; "I don't know how you can stay so still, with ADHD and all..."

"Again, just keep at it" Victoria pulled the arrows out of the target

Kevin shrugged; "Maybe it's time for me to try a different weapon, I think I'm a lot better with swords during practice"

Victoria looked a little hurt.

Kevin tried to say something; "Well I mean... I can keep practicing with you!"

She smiled; "I'll make an archer out of you yet!" she said walking away with her stuff.

Kevin worked super hard on his weapons skills because, well, children of Aphrodite weren't very... motivated to become heroes. Not that he thought anything was wrong about that, his siblings were free to make their own choices, but he personally didn't want to waste this experience to only stand by and look pretty. He wasn't going to let who his parent was get in the way of anything and he for sure didn't want to be overlooked.

"You look ridiculous" Drew said, she was one of his sisters, a week ago she seemed to care less that he existed. Now, it felt like she was sticking her nose in all of Kevin's business.

Kevin walked by her into the cabin, "Why? Because I'm trying to be a good fighter?"

Several of their siblings were in the cabin already.

Drew followed him in; "As a matter of fact, yes. I've watched you practicing, you're not very... skilled"

Kevin turned around; "I know that, I just think if I keep trying... I can be a great warrior, like Piper"

"Oh honey, you're already cute, why do you need to be good a two things?" She asked

He looked around and noticed none of siblings besides Drew were against him but none took his side either.

"Well excuse me for not being happy with being stared at all day and do nothing" Kevin said

Lynette stood up; "Getting stared at is normal for us"

Kevin shook his head; "I'm just saying, If I'm going to be known for something... It's not going to be my face. Don't you all want to be respected, like our sister Piper?"

Drew laughed; "Oh man, you really think that you're going to just save the world and be loved for your personality, look in the mirror, that's impossible" she sounded angry now

"That's why no one takes us seriously, because you all are comfortable with what everyone expects you to be. Instead you should go beyond and surprise them" He said

"What? You think you're better than us?" Drew asked; "So some of us rather be doing our hair rather than playing with swords, that's our choice. At least admit that you're only doing all of this for even more attention!"

"No, It's my choice to be more than another doll in Aphrodite's collection!" Kevin didn't know why he got so worked up, it was just Drew picking on him.

But he heard several of his siblings gasp.

Lynette stood in front of Kevin; "Don't talk about mom like that! Don't ever do that!" Lynette yelled, Kevin had never seen her angry before; "You've never even met her!"

"Yeah." Trev said; "So? Have you?"

Lynette had the same look in the eye that Eudora had, so angry that she became upset, her eyes even turned red.

Why was he so good at doing that? Kevin just wanted to leave...

"You all need to calm down" Mitchell said, walking in; "Kev why don't you escort Karina to her riding practice?"

Before Kevin could say anything he felt something in his hand, when he looked over his shoulder he realized Karina was holding his hand.

"Please" she whispered with a small smile

"Okay" Kevin found himself saying, after all, he could tell his siblings didn't want him around right now.

* * *

"What kind of riding practice is this? Not dragons right?" He asked

Karina smiled up at him; "No! Horse riding!"

"What a waste of a magic summer camp" Kevin shook his head

"You're funny" She said as they walked into the stables; "If you want to fly and ride there are Pegasus's!"

"But seriously, you have a horse?"

"Yeah, mother gave to me during my claiming. I think it's because on my ninth birthday I prayed for a pony so when I came to Camp Half-Blood, well one minute I was on the floor. But I was glowing pink and on a horse! I thought I was getting taller until the horse started moving" She said smiling

"Prayed for?"

"I prayed to God, and I guess mom was listening..." This time when she talked she wasn't smiling

"What's wrong?"

"Do you... do you not like mom?" She asked

Kevin sighed; "It's not like I... dislike her..."

Karina frowned and stared at the floor.

"But Lynette's right! I haven't even met her" Kevin wanted to say anything not to upset Karina

"I heard you and her had a spat" he heard a voice, when he turned he saw Lacy smiling.

"Hey..."

"Karina why don't you check on Sugar Pie?" Lacy asked

"Okay!" Karina ran off

"Sugar pie?"

"She named it" Lacy smiled

"Yeah..." Kevin felt bad all of the sudden, like he was about to get lectured but that hasn't happened once since coming to camp. But why else would Lacy be eager to be alone with him if it wasn't to yell at him about what he said back at the cabin.

Lacy stood next to him; "Wanna talk about it?"

"No"

"Then we won't"

Kevin almost yelled; "Seriously!?"

She nodded; "You're not a kid Kevin, you don't answer for things you say if that's how you feel"

Was she being sincere or was this a tactic to make him feel guilty?

"I do feel that way, I meant it all" Kevin said

Lacy looked around; "I suspected you didn't like mom, you never want to know about her and never talk about your relationship..."

"I always thought my mother had a good reason for leaving my dad, not one as bizarre as her simply being a goddess who doesn't ever raise her kids because of some thousand year old rules. She doesn't deserve any of the praise you all give her, it's not like she's the goddess of rainbows, just what does she do with her time? Besides sticking her nose into other peoples' businesses"

"It is her business... But I can't make you see that or like her" Lacy smiled; "I think you need some perspective!"

"What?"

Lacy wrapped her arm around his neck; "You need to understand why mom's so busy? Well that's because love takes a lot of work and time! Ever been in love?"

Kevin blushed; "I- kinda..."

"And didn't that take up many hours of the day?" She smiled

"That's different!" He ducked under her arm and walked to the other side of the stables; "Being in love and actually being in charged of it are two different things"

"Not true! Mom takes a little time for all true love!" Lacy walked slowly to him with her hands behind her back; "How about that Victoria girl?"

"What about her?"

Lacy's eyes narrowed and her grin widened

"Oh no! No no no!" Kevin almost started yelling again; "It's not like that at all!"

"I'm just saying... You both have been spending a lot of time together and before you, she didn't really have a lot of friends"

"Seriously?" Kevin asked

Lacy nodded; "You two aren't exactly the friendly types"

"Well Victoria and I are just friends, she knows that I don't like girls like that" He just had to spit it out since Lacy wasn't getting it

"Oh... Oh!" Her eyes widened; "No wonder! I thought it was weird you two weren't already dating!"

"Exactly" Kevin said

"Then how about Georgie?" She asked

"Who's that?"

"Son of Athena, I think he's gay" She said

"No." Kevin shook his head; "I'm too busy to be set up by a sister who's only known me for a week"

"Kevin! Live a little, we children of Aphrodite are meant to have great romances! Don't you want that"

"The last great romance didn't turn out well, besides I have bigger problems-"

"Just one date! I'll set it up!" She begged; "I'm a great match maker! Please, please, please!?"

"Fine! One date" He hated being forced into things but maybe a little distraction wouldn't be that bad

Karina walked back to them, she was frowning again

"What's wrong Karina?" Kevin asked

"Sugar pie was acting weird, I don't think he's happy..."

"Not happy?"

She nodded; "He wouldn't let me pet him"

"Maybe's he's sick?" Kevin suggested

"I'll check" Lacy walked past them; "Don't worry Karina you can ride another day"

* * *

The next day Lacy found him at the archery field.

"Psst! Kevin!" She yelled from behind a wooden fence

Victoria tapped Kevin; "I think one of your sisters is over there"

Kevin was about to shoot an arrow; "It's just Lacy..." Kevin rolled his eyes

Victoria smiled at him; "I thought only Drew was annoying?"

Kevin stood back to normal; "She's not annoying... Lacy's just suddenly interested in my love life right now."

"Oh" Victoria looked back and forth; "That's... nice?"

"It's a little weird but whatever" Kevin shrugged

"Who, ah, do you like?" She asked

Kevin looked at her; "No one, she's trying to set me up with this guy named George?"

"Georgie?"

"Yeah, you know him?"

Victoria smirked; "Everyone knows him, he's kinda the advice guy. A little bossy but smart..."

"And I think you two will be perfect!" Lacy said, suddenly next to them

"And why do think we'll be perfect?" Kevin asked

Victoria nodded; "Yeah, how do you know Kevin will even like him?"

Lacy shrugged; "There aren't a lot of options... It's either Georgie or Ross and Ross isn't here right now"

"That's not a very good reason" Victoria pointed out

"Whatever! Kevin already agreed on a date! I think Georgie is available right now! We should go!" Lacy seemed more excited than ever

Kevin took off his gloves; "Sorry Victoria"

"Don't be" She smiled and mouthed;_ I feel bad for you_

* * *

Georgie was a redhead with freckles, he seriously wasn't a bad looking guy, in fact he was quite cute.

"What's with the plaid shirt?" He asked

"It's my favorite shirt" Kevin said, he was wearing a red plaid shirt over his orange camp half-blood shirt but no one had pointed it out before

"Hm" Georgie looked away

Kevin and him sat on a picnic table by the lake, ordinarily Kevin would have thought this was ideal but nothing was as romantic as a forced blind date.

"So you like archery?" asked Kevin

"Not really" Georgie said; "Like shopping?"

"Not at all" said Kevin; "Like movies?"

"Who doesn't like movies?"

"Okay, than what kind of movies do you like?"

Georgie shrugged; "Drama, suspense, anything that makes you think... You?"

"Sci-fi.. and fantasy before I came to this place" Kevin smiled

"Wow" Georgie smiled back

"Lacy forced you here, didn't she?"

"Yep" Georgie shrugged; "But this isn't the first time, I think she's really trying to be known as 'The Match Maker'."

"Ugh" Kevin covered his face, he couldn't help but be embarrassed; "I'm so sorry..."

"It's okay, I can tell you didn't want to be here, you can go now" Georgie said

"What? And miss this date? Can't you feel the sparks?" Kevin said

Georgie almost laughed; "If I'm not your type, which is your loss, what do you like?"

"Wanna set me up to?" asked Kevin

"Maybe" Georgie was staring at Kevin; "Not that a Son of Aphrodite would ever need help getting a date"

Kevin chuckled; "Lacy thinks I do..."

Georgie stayed silent, Kevin knew he was waiting for an answer.

"I don't know... A normal guy, I mean, someone who's nice, smart, funny maybe someone who's honest and just likes hanging out... Someone who puts up with me... my personality I mean." Kevin thought about his first couple boyfriends, some were too funny never serious, others were too serious and never funny. And then there's the one where it simply didn't work out, but Kevin accepted that it just happens.

_Love is a lot of work_, like Lacy said, and hard to find.

_'Why would you ever want to love someone?'_ His ex once said, _'love is dumb'_. Kevin bit his lip, it annoyed him, the idea of blindly falling for someone who didn't love you back, he would never do that again.

"Sounds like Ross"

Kevin was still looking at the table; "I've heard that name from Lacy"

"That's cause she tried to push us together too" Georgie stated; "But he's more of a video game, tv watching and food loving guy"

Kevin looked up; "That doesn't sound terrible"

Georgie smirked; "Careful, he's kind of a hipster"

Kevin shrugged; "Knowing Lacy, she might snag me a date with him..."

"Probably" said Georgie; "Anyway, wearing red and orange is weird, I suggest changing that"

Kevin frowned; "No way"

* * *

Lacy was standing outside a wooden fence near the horse stables, she was watching Karina ride around. The sun was already setting.

"Hey, she's riding today!" Kevin said walking up to her

"Nothing looks wrong with Sugar Pie physically but all the horses have been acting funny lately..." Lacy said

Kevin watched Karina, she was smiling and the horse seemed to be walking right; "So why let her ride?"

"Well Sugar pie wasn't freaking out like yesterday and while he does seem a little off... Karina begged me okay! And I can't say no to her big brown eyes!" Lacy said

Kevin jumped over the fence, "Just in case, I'm going to stay close by"

"Wait! How was the date?" She asked, suddenly grinning

Kevin shrugged; "Wouldn't call it a date, more like hanging out with a new friend"

"Friend?" she sounded surprised

He nodded; "Love isn't easy, we of all people should know that" he smiled

Lacy nodded; "Well, I still need to find someone for Drew, but you're my priority! I promise!"

Before Kevin said anything, he heard Karina scream.

"What the-"

Sugar pie was jumping up and down with Karina screaming, the horse was also kicking, Lacy stared in horror.

"What's going on!?" She yelled

"Hold on!" Kevin yelled, not thinking, he ran toward the horse

* * *

_**A/N: Okay, sorry, he was suppose to be in this chapter but then it got too long..**__**. **__**Next time is when Nico will show up, promise!**_

_**Also reviews are very helpful! **_


	4. What's up with these Weird Horses

_A/N: I do believe I promised you all something..._

* * *

**What's up with these Weird Horses**

Inside the horse pen, Sugar Pie was still jumping and half running about. Karina was clearly trying to hold on as best she could.

"Kevin! I'll go get help!" Lacy yelled running past the group of campers that now we're surrounding the stables.

If truth were told, Kevin had no idea what to do, but he couldn't just stand around, he ran out here and couldn't go back. He thought about grabbing the horse but then it could just kick him. He got as close as he could without the horse freaking out toward him;

"Hold on Karina!"

_What to do? What Do I do?_

Several campers were yelling out nonsense like; "Get her Kevin!", "She's doomed!" or "What's he gonna do!?"

Kevin didn't let them distract him.

Sugar pied stopped jumping but now was walking fast around the pen, it was making loud noises the whole time that made Kevin nervous and Karina was crying now.

"Hey, come on" Kevin said calmly with his hands out, it almost looked like the horse was trying to walk back to the stable.

But after only a second of silence, the horse started jumping again, like it was afraid of something.

Just then Karina screamed out louder then she had before, Kevin realized it was because she let go of the reins and was going to fall off any second. He ran toward her as fast as he could and caught her in mid fall. Without thinking he just ran to the other side of the pen and climbed over the fence while holding her.

"Kevin!" Loukas showed up; "Are you okay?!"

"Never mind him! What about Karina?" Lynette yelled

Kevin carefully laid her down on the grass, her eyes were closed and didn't help that she was breathing really hard.

_She must have fainted while falling?_

"Let's get her out of here!" A different satyr yelled

"No, don't" Kevin tried to say but his hands were shaking.

"Kevin?" Victoria sat next to him on grass, but he couldn't hear her.

It wasn't until now Kevin could hear not only Sugar Pie, but all the horses in the stables were, what sounded like, screaming.

* * *

Kevin sat in his bed when Lacy ran into Cabin Ten.

"She's okay!" She yelled happily. "It's just a sprain, She just needs a couple days of rest"

Their siblings all sighed in relief.

"It's all thanks to your quick thinking Kevin" Mitchell complicated

"Oh, thanks" Kevin didn't even think when Karina seemed to be in danger, two weeks ago he would have just stood by but Karina was his sister. Besides, he was a demigod now, there were things he can do that normal mortals can't. That's probably why he was braver now than he used to be.

"Seriously Kevin, it was really cool" One of his other brothers, Bryce, said

"Maybe the nymphs will sing about it!" Drew added sarcastically

Lynette was the one who bunked next to her; "Oh shut up Drew. You did great today Kev"

"Thank you everyone, but I didn't anything anyone else wouldn't do"

"Still, you might have some extra attention tomorrow" Lacy smiled

Kevin shrugged,_ at least now it's for something I did..._

* * *

The next day was Monday.

Like many camps, the ever so prestigious Camp Half-Blood had a list of activities the campers could do.

Which meant that Kevin had to write a letter home today, which he thought about sending to his cousin Chloe.

It also meant at 11 am was Archery with Chiron and half the camp. And since last week Kevin was excited to show him that he had been working with Victoria on improving. Victoria was the best shot in the camp in Kevin's opinion, she had perfect eye sight and perfect form, no one ever challenged her skills.

"Hey Kevin" Several people greeted him all morning.

"Everyone sure is nice today, more than usual" Kevin said to Victoria

"That's because everyone thinks you're the local hero" Lyla stepped in smiling; "Everyone's talking about how you jumped on the horse and forced it to do what you said"

"What? That's not what happened" Kevin said; "Besides, how can I even tell a horse what to do?"

Victoria walked up next to him; "You could have charm speak?"

"Charm speak? You mean what Drew and Piper have?" He asked

"It's possible, you are a child of Aphrodite, ever tell people what to do?" Lyla smiled; "I mean things they didn't want to do?"

"Uh, no, that's terrible" Kevin said but for some reason Lyla laughed

"Ahem!" Georgie also showing up uninvited. "I would like borrow Kevin for the day"

"What? No! Kevin and I have been practicing for days!" Victoria said

Lyla yelled too; "Yeah! He's with us"

"Shut up" Victoria turned her head toward her.

Georgie rolled his eyes; "Calm down Apollo girls, it's not like you need him to do well. I would like him to hang with me and my friend today"

"Victoria's right, she helped me a lot this week" Kevin wasn't sure why they were all fighting, "Can't we all just hang out together"

"Actually no, not today, not now" Georgie stated; "Besides Victoria's not your girlfriend, and all you do is hang out with just her"

Victoria stayed quiet.

"Hey, that's not fair." Kevin said; "She's the closest thing I have to a best friend"

"It's okay Kevin..." She said lowly, she crossed her arms; "Go ahead, you don't need me to do great..."

There was nothing worse in the world then seeing someone you care for upset, and Kevin was all too familiar with that feeling.

"Vict-"

"Great!" Georgie grabbed Kevin's arm; "Let's go"

"Have fun" Victoria had a small smile while he walked away.

* * *

"That was not cool Georgie" said Kevin, no longer caring about people staring at him as he walked by.

"Oh! You'll thank me later!" He said, too confident.

"Whatever"

They walked by several campers that already started shooting at their targets, the farther they got from Victoria the worse Kevin felt. The last thing Kevin wanted her to feel was left out and he definitely didn't want to be the guy who throws his friends away for a little popularity.

They walked behind a group of kids that seemed like they were about to start.

"I'm back!" Georgie said, walking behind a guy with black hair.

Georgie smiled at Kevin; "Ahem! Hello?"

The guy shot an arrow, it didn't hit the middle of the target, but he was close. He turned around, he had glasses on his head, he pulled them down; "Sorry, far sighted..."

"Right! Well!" Georgie gestured at Kevin; "This is Kevin Holt, Son of Aphrodite!"

The guy was clearly part Asian, he had an undercut hairstyle, and glasses that framed his face perfectly.

He held his hand out for Kevin to shake it; "Hi, I'm Ross Zheng, son of Hebe"

"Ross? Oh! You're Ross!" Kevin accidentally said aloud, the guy was crazy cute, it made Kevin actually nervous.

Ross nodded; "Yeah, Georgie's told me a lot about you"

Kevin looked over at Georgie puzzlingly

"Only good things!" Georgie said; "I thought you wanted to meet him"

Kevin laughed nervously; "Only because you said I should!"

Georgie frowned; "Well, I think I hear someone calling my name! Why don't you two start without me?" He ran off before anyone could protest.

"He's not as smart as he thinks..." Kevin stated

"Or as subtle" Ross replied

Kevin turned toward him, Ross had already drawn another arrow, that reminded to put on his finger pads and testing his bow string. He had no idea what to talk about with Ross.

The silence only made Kevin more nervous then he already was.

"Son of Hebe, huh?" was all he could muster up

Ross shot an arrow, it still wasn't in the middle of the target; "Yeah, she's not as glamorous as Aphrodite... But she sure is friendly"

"Have you met her?" Kevin asked

"Um... No, but I'm told we're like. And we Hebe's kids, not to sound arrogant, are considered some of the nicer demigods" Ross said; "We Hebe kids throw the best parties"

"Seriously?" Kevin asked smiling.

"Well yeah" Ross nodded; "I mean all demigods are very similar to their parents"

The moment almost felt ruined, Kevin hated the idea of being like Aphrodite. He shook his head; "Well I never thought I was like her"

Ross smirked; "Well she's the embodiment of love. Fall in love easily?"

"What!? No!"

"I'm only kidding" Ross said

Kevin felt his face go red; "I know... I just..."

"So maybe you don't fall in love easily" Ross interrupted; "But there are many kinds of love besides romantic. There's love between family, friends, sometimes you just love someone for no real reason. Sound familiar?"

"I don't know..." Kevin said quietly

Ross shrugged and then fired another arrow.

There were a lot of people Kevin cared about, maybe it was just easy for him to love someone, not falling in love like Ross said, maybe Kevin and his siblings were so connected that it was easy for all of them to love one another.

Kevin started shooting arrows thinking about this. There were a lot people he cared about.

_like Dad, Eudora and Chloe..._

He shot an arrow barely in the middle of the target. His thoughts drifted to all his siblings, anyone in the world would say you're suppose to love your brothers and sisters. Kevin did care for them, without a doubt, but love?

_Lacy, Karina, even you Drew..._

The next arrow was closer. "Good job" he heard Ross' voice, not that Kevin was really paying attention.

Was he always going to be like this? Caring so much about people so easily that he already did about people he only knew for ever a week. He took a deep breath, remembering what Victoria taught him, she tried so hard to make sure he could at least be decent.

_Victoria..._

This arrow hit almost perfectly the middle. "Wow!" a voice that he had forgotten was there said.

He moved his arm slightly to the left, this time should hit the bull's-eye...

Loving was a problem he always had, bad relationships with family, friends, boyfriends. But even if his mother was the goddess of love, he wasn't going to let it define him. And yet thoughts of past loves returned to him, it was like looking at old ugly scars. Now Kevin knew it was because he was foolish enough to love so easily.

His hands were shaking.

_Is that why my heart always gets broken?..._

He fired the arrow, it was the worst one he fired, not even touching the target at all.

"Hey, you did well today!" Ross said

"Thanks" Kevin didn't want to wait around anymore.

* * *

_I'm so stupid..._ Kevin thought

"Kevin!" Georgie; "How did it go?"

"What?"

"The date!"

Kevin rolled his eyes; "I don't think spending time at archery counts as a date"

"Did you like him I mean?" Georgie was so excited, it almost made Kevin mad

"No" Kevin realized how bland that was; "I mean, I'm sure we'll be great friends..."

Georgie was shocked; "Seriously!? I thought for sure-"

"Listen, I don't want a boyfriend, I don't want to be set up on dates anymore! I don't want-!" Kevin yelled, unable to finish his sentence.

Georgie's eyes widened; "Kevin, I'm sorry... I didn't mean to upset you"

"You didn't!" He lowered his hand; "You didn't upset me... I'm just... awkward... I think I was rude to Ross"

"He's a nice guy, he won't care!" Georgie smiled reassuringly

Kevin nodded; "I'm sure. Thanks but I'm not ready for that kind of relationship"

Georgie just stared at him; "Wow, I never hear an Aphrodite kid say that"

Kevin shrugged.

* * *

Another week went by before Karina started to act normally. She started walking around more and more.

"Do you think I can ride Sugar Pie soon?" she asked Lacy

Lacy looked nervous; "Sweetie, the horses are still acting weird... No one's allowed to ride until the problem's been resolved"

"Oh..." She sat down on her bed.

"Want me to read you another story?" Kevin asked

But she shook her head.

"I'm sorry baby girl" Their sister Janie said sitting on her bed across from Karina

Karina's parent sent her a leather bracelets kit, she sat on her bed all week making different kinds. Kevin sat on the floor next to her, he tried braiding some straps together but he wasn't very good at it.

Kevin noticed his brother Bryce walk in, Kevin tried to get his attention.

"Hey, is there any word of the horses problem?" Kevin asked

Bryce nodded; "Well Chiron looked into it, he's trying to look at possible reasons"

"Any luck?"

Bryce looked around; "Well today I heard he called in a one of the bigger demigods"

Kevin wondered who could it be that Chiron himself asked for their help.

"Like Percy Jackson!?" Lacy smiled, joining the conversation

Kevin knew who that was, he heard about the rise and fall of Kronos and then Gaia, Percy Jackson and the other six demigods of the prophecy saved the world.

"Wait, why would the son of the sea god help?" Kevin asked.

Everyone stared at him, like he had something super ridiculous like; _"I think plaid and polka dots work perfectly together" _

_Yeah... That's something that would bother them. _Kevin thought.

"Kevin, I know you're not caught up a hundred percent in Greek history..." Lacy said; "But Poseidon created horses"

"He did!?" Kevin was surprised; "Why would he do that?"

"It's a whole thing about Demeter, you should really pay attention in the next lesson" said Lacy

"But no, he didn't bring Percy Jackson" Bryce sounded disappointed; "He summoned Nico di Angelo..."

"The son of Hades?" Kevin also recognized that name; "What? Did his dad create Horse Stables?"

"No, don't be silly" Lacy said; "I have no idea why Chiron asked Nico di Angelo to come here..." her voice changed when she said Nico's name.

Kevin looked at her; "What was that?"

"What?" She asked

"You're acting weird about Nico di Angelo?" Kevin was curious now

"He's a little weird, okay!? Last time I saw him, he... he creeped me out" Lacy whispered

"Wow, grow up" Bryce stated

"Hey! Look me in the eye and say he doesn't scare you in the little bit!" Lacy yelled, their other siblings looked their way.

Kevin shrugged; "I would assume the son of Hades would be scary powerful... Didn't he help save the world?"

"Yes, his power is scary, but I mean _he's_ scary, you know?" Lacy said

Kevin didn't understand.

"You should see the way he's dressed" Bryce nodded

"Like a Goth?" Kevin guessed, that's how he thought a son of the God of Death would dress.

"Close, but not exactly, he's been wearing the same leather jacket since I can remember" Bryce looked at Lacy; "Maybe she doesn't like him because he doesn't take pride in his appearance"

Kevin wasn't really the kind of guy who talked about people behind their back, especially someone he hadn't met; "There are worse things you know"

Lacy's face turned red; "Don't lecture me, if I don't like someone's fashion sense than I'm entitled to say something"

"Don't be mean, Lacy" Kevin said; "You're better than that.

He left the cabin.

* * *

Bryce ran up next to Kevin.

"Where you going?" Bryce asked

Kevin shrugged; "I don't know, maybe find Victoria or Loukas"

"I heard Nico is here today" Bryce said proudly

"Seriously?" Kevin stopped, Nico di Angelo was a powerful Demigod, one of the strongest alive, and he was here.

"I'm almost want to meet him" Kevin admitted, although out of all the Heroes of Olympus, he wanted to meet Piper the most, but meeting Nico di Angelo should be just as good.

"Why don't we? Hey Elias!" Bryce yelled at a random satyr

The satyr walked over to them; "What's up Bryce"

"Word in the Camp is Nico di Angelo is here today, happen to know anything about that?"

Elias looked around; "Yeah... The dude's been here since last night. But he didn't make a show about it"

"Cool" Kevin couldn't help say

Bryce nodded; "Know where he is?"

"Hm... He's been hanging out alone in the Hades Cabin... But right now I heard he was standing outside the horse stables" Elias said

"Great." Bryce said; "See that Kevin? Elias and I go way back, he's the Satyr that brought me here"

"Don't tell anyone I told you!" Elias said; "It's not a secret really but Chiron would like the whole thing kept low key"

"Only me and Kevin will go see him, promise" Bryce said

* * *

"So why would a son of Hades be called forth today?" Bryce asked, walking backwards to face Kevin

Kevin shook his head; " I have no idea"

"Exactly!" Bryce turned around; "We should ask him"

"Of course"

The two of them walked for awhile until the stables were in sight, Kevin assumed to walk into them but Bryce pulled him.

"What are you doing?" Bryce asked

"Uh... going inside?" Kevin took Bryce's hand off him

Bryce looked confused; "Why? He's over there" Bryce pointed at the fences around the horse pen.

A person stood outside the pen, leaning over with their arms crossed on the fence.

The person was young man, no older than Kevin, his hair was darker than anyone else's, as messy as Lacy said. He was defiantly skinny but Kevin couldn't tell how tall he was as long as he was slouching. He had on a aviator jacket that Bryce mentioned, he wore black jeans and just stood there, staring at something Kevin wasn't sure of.

It was strange, this person was both what Kevin expected and not at all.

Kevin had heard a lot about him in stories and from other campers. It didn't matter what Lacy said, he was one of the saviors of the world, twice, he helped stop the Roman/Greek war and left the camp to travel the world or underworld instead. He was the son of Hades, the ghost king, a true hero.

He was Nico di Angelo.

Kevin was both star stuck but also very excited; "Let's go talk to him!"

"Um..." Bryce managed to say

"What now?"

Bryce just darted his eyes around; "I don't know! I guess I'm nervous, this guy has killed monsters and summoned ghosts..."

"Yeah, I thought that's why you wanted to meet him?" Kevin was starting to get annoyed.

"I know... Why don't you go meet him? I'll stay here"

"Seriously?"

"Yeah! And don't forget to ask him why he's here!" Bryce was suddenly okay with leaving.

"Ugh!" Kevin stomped over toward Nico di Angelo.

He didn't know what to say or even how to greet him; _"Hi Mr. di Angelo!" "Hey man, guy, guy-man..." "Nico, dude, what's up?"_

_Gods, what is wrong with me?_

Kevin tried not to over think it;

_Just go for it..._

He walked up behind Nico di Angelo;

"Hi, Hey... I'm Kevin... uh hello?" Kevin said.

Nico di Angelo did not move, he stood there, still staring into the horse pen.

"Hello?" Kevin asked, Nico di Angelo wasn't really blinking, maybe something was wrong?

Kevin held his hand out, first he waved it around but Nico didn't notice, then he lightly patted Nico's shoulder.

Nothing.

"Hm..." Kevin thought about whenever Chloe was watching TV, he'd pinch her to get her attention.

So he pinched Nico di Angelo's arm.

"What the hell!?" Nico yelled

Kevin immediately regretted it.

"Hey! Sorry, I was trying to get your attention" Kevin stared at Nico, who was short than he expected and a hell of lot more sleepy.

"What, What do you want?" Nico was a mix was confused and annoyed.

Kevin found himself smiling; "Well, I thought... I just wanted to meet you man... I'm sorry"

Nico was surprised, he took a deep breath; "Whatever"

Nico went back to slouching on the fence, Kevin also was slouching now.

Kevin moved closer; "So..."

He smiled but Nico gave him a confused expression.

"What?" Nico said

"What are you doing?" Kevin asked

"I'm watching for suspicious activity... If you must know" Nico said; "Who are you, anyway?"

"Me? My name is Kevin Holt" He smiled

Nico stared at him, like he was trying to read him; "Son of Aphrodite?" he asked

"What? How did you know!" Kevin replied

Nico shrugged; "I could just tell... All of this-" Nico gestured to all of Kevin; "Just screams Aphrodite son"

Kevin rubbed his face; "I really thought I was doing a good job not being judged..."

"I'm not" Nico stuttered; "I'm not judging you"

"Good" Kevin nodded; Nico probably got judged all the time, so why would he?

Nico looked toward the floor, like talking to Kevin made him uncomfortable.

"Hey, I'm sorry to bother you... I'll go now if you answer me one question" Kevin said

"Shoot" Nico looked back up at Kevin

"Why is the Son of Hades called for this assignment and not a son of Poseidon, like Percy Jackson?"

Nico started going through the motions, was he annoyed, was he angry? Kevin couldn't tell. Did he say something he wasn't suppose to? Did Nico di Angelo just realize the oddness of bringing him here and not someone more qualified?

Nico then stopped in front of Kevin; "Because this isn't a horse problem..."

_Oh?_ Kevin thought.

Nico smiled, it was almost haunting; "This is a ghost problem"

* * *

_**A/N: 4 chapters in one month isn't too bad huh?**_

_**Well reviews help me know what you think and what I can improve on!**_


	5. Are you Ready for a Perfect Storm

_A/N: This was a lot of fun to write,_

_I have a pretty good idea of what I want to happen I just need to think more about details..._

* * *

**Are you Ready for a Perfect Storm**

Now, saying the word "ghost" out there, in the normal world, would have only a few kinds of reactions, most of them negative. Ghost stories were reserved for mortal children and most considered you crazy if you believed them past thirteen. So you could understand that as little as a month ago Kevin would have laughed in Nico's pale face for even suggesting ghosts in a serious context. But then again, a lot has happened since then.

After all, Kevin found out gods were real, that the world almost ended twice and most shockingly found out who his mother was.

So if anyone in the world should be telling Kevin about ghosts, it's only fitting that it be the Son of the God of the Underworld. Even though Kevin had already heard several stories about certain events, he still hadn't seen anything yet to make him believe in ghosts.

"You're kidding" Kevin said, almost unimpressed

Nico blinked, like this was literally the last reaction Kevin should have; "I'm not"

"Hm" Kevin was trying to process everything.

Kevin walked around in a circle, thinking about ghost movies, TV shows, characters like Casper. He wondered if all ghost stories were true then, or maybe since the Greek gods existed then all stories were true.

_My head hurts..._

"So ghosts?"

"Yes!" Nico frowned; "What's so hard to believe?"

Kevin shrugged; "I guess anything is possible by this point..."

He looked around, his eyes looked at Nico for a second, man did he look pissed. Kevin had the strongest feeling that Nico di Angelo was not a person to be messed with, raw power alone told Kevin that. But Nico was also extremely intimidating, maybe that's why everyone was so scared of him, not because of his clothes, it's his personality.

Kevin cleared his throat; "So... how can I help?"

"What? I didn't ask for your help!" Nico said

Kevin smiled; "Ah, but you need my help..."

"No, I don't." Nico was way too good at shutting people up; " You said you would leave when I answered your question, so go" Nico stood his ground.

Kevin could take a hint, he didn't go somewhere he wasn't wanted but; "Okay! Look, I want to help because my sister got hurt by whatever is going on. And I want to see it dealt with... I mean, don't you have siblings?" Kevin knew Nico had a sister, she was one of the Heroes of Olympus.

Nico looked around, he was still only considering.

Kevin thought about Lyla said, about charm-speaking, but even if Kevin could he had no idea how. Was there a special voice he had to use? Are you suppose to look them in the eye? Does it only work on the opposite gender?

Nico wouldn't look him directly anyway.

"Please..." Kevin said after a moment of silence.

"Ugh" Nico said, totally sounding exasperated by Kevin; "Fine, just don't get in the way"

"Yay!" Kevin nodded; "So boss, tell me what we got here?"

Nico rolled his eyes; "One, don't talk like that. Two, shut up for a second. And three, I already told you what I'm doing!"

"You're no fun" Kevin said; "Alright, what ghosts are we looking for?"

Nico breathed; "I have a few ideas, but definitely there have been ghosts here"

"So is it like an angered spirit? Someone murdered here and now haunting the stables?" Kevin smiled

"No it's not like that, I don't think it's a person" Nico said flatly; "But it might be angry"

"Monster Ghost... Cool" Kevin said, "And we're waiting for what?"

"The horses are scared almost all day, but it's around night when they really start freaking out" Nico pondered; "I can sense something, I can't really explain it"

"Are we experiencing some paranormal activity?" Kevin asked, grinning

Nico shrugged; "I guess you could say that" totally not getting the reference.

"So you _can_ talk to ghosts?" Kevin asked, he heard the stories but needed to hear it from Nico

Nico took a few steps away, dragging his hand against the fence; "Technically anyone can talk to ghosts... I'm only special because I can hear them"

Kevin followed slowly; "And they talk to you?"

"Of course, you'd be surprised how much dead have to say to the living" Nico kept staring at the grass

"Wow" Kevin looked at the sunset,_ so if it comes at night then this ghost will show up anytime now..._

Kevin turned his head to face Nico, who was also looking at him, but then Nico quickly looked away.

"I... um, think I should go into the stables... I guess you could follow..." Nico rubbed the back of his neck.

Kevin nodded; "I'd like that"

* * *

"So... Is it everything they say about you true?" Kevin stood next to Nico in the stables, the horses weren't calm but they weren't making too much noise.

"Like what?"

Kevin said; "Like that you can teleport or something?"

"Shadow travel" Nico corrected him; "As a matter of fact, I can" Nico almost looked proud for a second

Kevin bit his lip; "I wish I had a cool power like that"

"I'm not saying it's not cool, but it's a lot work. Power is just like that" Nico leaned against the wall; "I'm sure Aphrodite kids can do something special... Like don't you all have power over clothes or something?"

"Tout ce que je peux faire, c'est parler français!" Kevin raised his voice

"What was that?"

"I said All I can do is speak French! Who needs French!?" Kevin yelled

Nico smirked; "At least people still speak French, who needs to know Greek?"

"True" Kevin smiled back

"Plus I'm glad I know Italian" Nico said

"Is that a Hades kids thing or a Nico thing?"

"Only me"

"I guess you're just special like that..." Kevin sighed

Nico looked around, he opened his mouth to speak but then decided not to.

Kevin stared at the ceiling, never in his life he thought he'd be hanging out with a Son of Hades, that sentence alone he never thought would be arranged like that.

"Every demigod is different" Nico finally said

"What?"

Nico started kicking at the ground; "I said, everyone's different... Even if you have the same parent, every demigod is different enough from their siblings... Each one has something special..."

"I'm not special Nico... I haven't done anything with my life. Except disappoint people I love..." Kevin didn't know how this conversation became like this.

_Stop it... Stop pitying yourself, you're pathetic..._ He thought

"Isn't that why you're here?"

Kevin looked down, Nico was finally facing him.

Nico still wasn't looking Kevin in the eye but he said; "You'll never do something if you keep telling yourself you can't do anything... A lot of mortals live normal nice lives and still feel exactly how you do. But at least you're here, you can still make a difference even if your only ability is over clothes or speak French."

"Cool... but I still wish I could control fire or be super smart, not speak French" Kevin was walking in circles

Nico didn't say anything for awhile; "Can you charm speak?"

"I have no idea" Kevin had thought about it a lot since Lyla brought it up.

Nico shrugged; "Well I think you should try-" he stopped speaking in midsentence

Kevin turned sharply at him, Nico was staring at the floor, like he was trying to concentrate.

"It's here"

The horses started making a ruckus on cue, Kevin looked around but he didn't see anything.

The darkness seemed to grow faster around them. The area somehow got colder and the hairs on the back of Kevin's neck stood up.

Nico unsheathed his sword, it was a dark iron color that Kevin had never seen anyone else wield.

_Crap, I really wished I brought my sword..._ Kevin thought.

A cloud of white smoke suddenly glowed in the middle of the Stables, it flew around the horses and Kevin wasn't sure but he thought he heard something, his hears were sure ringing.

Nico stood straight; "Stop right there" he commanded pointing his sword

The cloud stopped but the smoke around it only grew from lack of movement.

"Who are you? Show yourself!" Nico narrowed his eyes

The cloud stayed in place.

"Maybe it's shy?" Kevin stood next to Nico

Nico seemed confused, he lowered his sword and walked forward. He had one of his hands out as if he was going to touch it, Kevin stood back, no way he was touching a ghost tonight. Nico placed his hand in the smoke like thing.

The cloud screamed.

Kevin covered his ears but it clearly effected Nico more, Nico fell to his knees and dropped his sword. He yelled out in pain.

"Nico!" Kevin yelled but the smoke moved past him almost too fast for Kevin to notice.

"The ghost!" Nico said, he sounded out of breath, he pointed toward the exit.

From where he was, he could see the ghost flying toward the forest.

Again, Kevin didn't think, he just ran toward the danger.

* * *

Victoria walked into her cabin and saw all her siblings standing in a circle.

"What's up guys?" She asked, looking mostly at the cabin counselor, Will Solace

Will looked at her; "Come here, something serious has happened."

"What? What is it!?" Victoria's voice went higher than she wanted

"Father has contacted us... " One of her sisters said, named Skye

"Wait, why?"

Lyla stood forward; "You could say something's amiss"

"What's wrong?" Victoria stood with the circle.

"Father says that there will be a new quest soon" Will said

"But only the Oracle can assign quests" Victoria tried to protest

"The Oracle is a speaker of the prophecies of Apollo, our father, he knows things and this time he shared with us first" Skye said

Lyla nodded; "Yeah Vicky, lighten up"

"Don't call me that" Victoria thought about it; "Why did father need to tell us about the quest?"

"Because something is lost, something very important and perhaps he wants us to lead this quest?" Will suggested

"Dad has never done this before, why does he care now?" she asked

Skye walked in front of her; "Use your head. If something is lost and must be found through a quest, why else would father want us to prepare for it?"

"The reason I could think is..." Victoria looked up at; "...No..."

Skye smiled; "Whatever needs to be found was lost by our father himself."

Victoria's eyes widened; "What did he lose?"

"Something very important, something unlike anything" Skye said, as cryptic as ever

Will was much more serious; "If it's not returned soon, There will be trouble between gods"

* * *

You'd think that chasing something in a big forest would be hard, Kevin did so too, expect he was chasing a ghost so normal rules don't apply to this situation.

Luckily the ghost illuminated a good portion of the forest in front of Kevin, which allowed him to see pretty well and relieved him. He kept running and chasing but if he were honest, he had no idea what to do next. If Nico had a plan, he wasn't kind enough to share it, and what could Kevin do, besides yell at it.

And Kevin tried yelling at it, but it didn't slow down at all and it kept making small screams. Really only Nico could tell ghost what to do, Kevin didn't know what he was doing.

Just as he was beginning to lose hope, the ghost slowed down significantly.

In fact, it looked like it make a complete stop.

Kevin ran up to it; "Ha!"

He said triumphantly, right before the ghost vanished and before falling off high rocks.

"Shit!" He yelled crashing into the creek below him.

He fell on his leg wrong and his whole body followed into the creek. The creek was only foot deep but it was enough for Kevin's clothes to get wet and enough for water to keep flowing past him as he laid there.

"Gods, my head hurts..." he said aloud, not to anyone in particular

A bright light in front of him caught his attention enough to force himself to sit up. And it wasn't as easy you'd think, not only was his back and head hurting but both hands had been scrapped against the rocks in the little river, and he was pretty sure he broke his foot.

_Some demigod I am..._

The light glowed differently, like was swirling a lot in place, then it finally manifested itself before Kevin.

The ghost took shape of a horse, or to be more exact, a horse's skeleton. The bones glowed white and was enveloped in cloudy light, never had Kevin been both in awe and terrified.

The ghost neighed, it was floating but it mocked walking as it came closer to Kevin.

Kevin tried to scoot backward, but his bloodied hands couldn't support him enough to move anywhere.

The ghost was so close, it now sounded like it was trying to whisper something to Kevin, but he couldn't understand.

"Hey!" a voice said

Kevin tried to look around the ghost's glow. Nico seemed to be glowing too, but it was more a light green rather than the horse's white light.

"Are you alright Kevin?" The whole forest pulsed with every word he spoke.

Kevin was speechless, he just shook his head or nodded, he couldn't remember.

Nico stood in the creek without his aviator jacket, and sword in hand. His shoes were probably just as wet as Kevin.

The ghost didn't respond or move.

Nico took a step forward, he tapped his sword against the rocks in the creek.

"You _will_ obey me" Nico said, his voice was deeper than before, Kevin sat there as quiet as a rock.

The ghost whined and started to run toward Nico.

Kevin forced himself to move "Nico-"

Nico raised his arm with an outstretched hand, in the stopping position.

The ghost stopped right at his hand and it floated there in place.

"Whoa there" Nico said, lowering his hand, the Ghost also lowered itself.

He didn't even have to say anything the horse knew what Nico wanted and this time had no choice but to listen. The ghost horse neighed again, this time it seemed more relaxed.

Nico sheathed his sword and held both his hands out, whether Nico actually pet it or not, Kevin couldn't tell.

"I understand..." Nico said softly, the ghost shimmered brightly before fading away.

Kevin sighed, he fell back into the river.

It was strange how good he felt, maybe hard work did pay off and was something he had been missing out on.

He smiled while starring at the stars, they looked pretty good here in the forest. The moon was full and so bright, Kevin looked directly at it, it felt like forever since the last time he felt this tranquil.

"Hey, Hey!" Nico was suddenly in his view, _was he sitting in the water?_

Nico looked into the river; "You're bleeding!"

Kevin lifted his hands; "I'm fine"

Nico pouted, "You're not, I'm going to get you out of here, even if I have to carry you"

"Calm down buddy" Kevin said

Nico was observing him, up and down; "Did you break something else?!" He asked but Kevin wasn't listening.

Kevin felt light headed; "We did it..." He laughed

"Actually we're not done, that was a Taraxippus and it wasn't very happy" Nico said; "It was wronged and I have to fix it."

"Can't you just... Let me just enjoy this moment..." Kevin whispered

"What's so special about this?" Nico asked, clearly unhappy about being wet.

"My first adventure! My first task..." Kevin said; "I'll always remember this moment..."

Nico was still sitting above him, from where he was, it looked like the moon was directly behind him. It gave Nico this glow, it was more natural light unlike the green light from before. It haloed Nico perfectly, Kevin couldn't help but smile. Maybe it was the fact he hit his head but Nico looked really cool right now. He looked directly into those dark eyes of Nico's that were framed by equally dark hair.

"What?" Nico said

"Hm... Nothing" Kevin said, "I'm ready to get up now..."

* * *

Nico Stood against the wall in the Aphrodite's cabin.

"I can't believe you got you got your hands on some ambrosia!" Kevin said, he was sitting in his bed.

"I can't believe you injured your foot too!" Karina said, sitting next to him.

Lacy looked over at Nico; "Um... Thanks for taking care of the Taraxippus, and helping our brother back here..." She half mumbled

Nico shrugged, "Yeah... You're welcome"

Kevin took a bite of the ambrosia square; "Mm, it tastes like cheesecake..."

Nico looked around and noticed candy wrappers on the floor and around the cabin in general, several of Kevin's siblings were drinking what looked like hot chocolate. Kevin looked content with the ambrosia.

"You all wouldn't happen to have a sweet tooth, would you?" Nico asked

Lacy's face turned red; "Shh! That's a Aphrodite Children secret! This is exactly why we don't let outsiders in!"

"That explains why dessert is my favorite meal!" Kevin smiled

"Hush Kevin!" Lynette was also blushing; "We don't let the other campers know about our tragic flaw..."

"Tragic?" Kevin sat up; "So what? I think it's nice you all aren't totally inhuman"

Karina laughed; "I like pudding the most!"

"Stop! Promise us you won't share!" Lacy grabbed Nico's hand; "Promise!"

"Fine!" Nico pulled his hands out of hers.

"Okay girls, go to your side" Mitchell said

Bryce smiled; "So Nico, I've never really seen you around, do you even ever stay at Camp Half-Blood anymore"

"Sometimes..."

Bryce stood too close to Nico; "You're a lot quieter than I imagined..."

"Leave him alone, Bryce" Kevin said, he was frowning

Nico considered leaving, when his eyes looked over Kevin he noticed Kevin patting his bed;

_Sit down!_ Kevin mouthed

Nico ran a hand through his hair, he took a deep breath while sitting next to Kevin, he noticed Kevin had several pictures over on Kevin's wall next to his bed. A lot were just random pictures of Camp Half-Blood. Other campers doing activities, A satyr making a funny face and a Chiron eating.

One looked like Kevin with a little girl who resembled him and one with Kevin wearing a helmet probably during capture the flag.

Nico smirked.

Then Nico noticed several if not a dozen of one specific blond girl. Some were pretty shots of her not noticing Kevin took the pictures, others were her clearing unhappy about being photographed and one with Kevin and her smiling like one those 'selfies' Nico had heard about.

_She's pretty..._

"Is that your girlfriend?" Nico asked dryly

"No, Victoria? no!" Kevin said

Nico eyed Kevin's hands, they were bleeding horribly before; "Did all your wounds heal?"

"Check for yourself" Kevin held his hands out

Nico grabbed them.

He examined Kevin's hands, not a scratch.

_Good..._

Nico sighed, relaxing his own hands, only then to realize how warm Kevin's were.

He quickly released them, "You look fine! I mean, damn it, your hands are fine! I mean you're well!" Nico stuttered

Kevin just blinked. "Sorry I couldn't understand that, what was that?" Kevin was being sincere

"I said you're healed!" Nico stood up, ready to leave this god forsaken place

"Nico!" Kevin yelled, walking after him

"What?" Nico snapped

Kevin stopped; "I just wanted to... Thanks for today" He smiled

There it was again, that warm feeling.

It only made Nico angrier; "Whatever"

"You're not leaving are you?" Kevin ran up next to him

"And what if I am?" Nico muttered

Kevin was walking faster to keep up with Nico; "I don't know, I thought you could actually stay at camp for a little..."

"What's it to you anyway?" Nico asked

Kevin stopped.

_Yeah that's what I thought..._

Nico kept walking, he was about to shadow travel.

"Because we just became friends!" Kevin said, running into Nico

Nico turned around quickly; "Excuse me?!"

Kevin was smiling; "We're friends now! Duh!"

"Friends?" Nico wasn't a hundred percent used to that word, he only had a handful of what he would consider friends, and he hadn't seen any of them in half a year

"Of course! I have lots of friends but none have what you and I have!" Kevin was half jumping up and down

Nico's face grew hot; "What do you mean?"

"I'm saying you're special!"

Nico bit his lip; "Really... How?" he asked weakly

Kevin scratched his head; "Well... I can tell you right now I've never ghost hunted with anyone before! That's something"

He didn't know why, but Nico felt like someone had just offered him something like the rarest mythomagic card up to date, but when he reached for it they slapped him across the face.

Nico looked down, he didn't want to be here anymore, this place always did this to him.

"I mean... I was useless tonight but you, You were amazing! And if you could I'd like to be better friends with you" Kevin said softly

Nico thought about what staying here meant, not doing work, no longer traveling, and unwanted attention. But when he looked up at Kevin, there was something inside him that also wanted to be friends with this person, something Nico himself thought he'd lost long ago.

"Okay..." Nico's voice sounded so small; "I'll stay... For a little while"

"Great!" Kevin yelled, he patted Nico on the shoulder; "I have a good feeling about this!"

Nico rolled his eyes. "That makes one of us..."

* * *

_Fantasy-Faction(.com) is where I got the visual ideas for describing the Taraxippus, no one really knew what it looked like but many thought it existed and some said it was a man haunting, some say a demon but I like the ghost horse theory._

_A/N: So I'm not saying I need help because I do know what will happen, _

_but it would be great to have someone to talk to about ideas_


	6. It's Not Camp without Sports

_A/N: So sorry this took awhile, school and all..._

* * *

**It's Not Camp without Sports**

There was a certain special thing about Demigods dreams, it was said that some demigods had dreams about the future or even visions of what could being happening right now if it was of importance. But during times of peace, demigods hardly had dreams like this.

Aphrodite's children dreamt of love. Several of Kevin's siblings claimed that they had dreams about loves of all kinds, family, friends, and great passions they experienced or may experience someday.

Kevin knew this was true, he had dreams about his father, Eudora and Chloe all the time. But all it did was make him feel guiltily rather than good.

But tonight's dream was different from before.

* * *

In the dream Kevin was in a house he once lived in, It was only over a year ago, and it was during a time where he was even more independent than he is now.

Kevin walked down the familiar hallway into his old room.

When he opened the door, afraid he already knew what was waiting for him.

"Hey! The game just started!" a teenage boy yelled out

"Max?" Kevin walked up to him, Max was older than Kevin, by at least a year and a half. Max had dirty blond short hair, taller than Kevin, he always dressed sharply, and back then Kevin thought he was the most beautiful boy in the world.

Kevin sat down on his couch bed.

Max handed him a game controller, and a bag of M&M's "Still your favorite right? Go ahead, call me the best"

"Why are you here Max?" Kevin finally said

Max sat closely to Kevin; "Why? You asked me to let you borrow like, all my games... Are you okay?"

"Um... Yeah, just nervous..." Kevin knew that Max was scrawnier but it always intimidated him how Max towered over everyone.

Max laughed, putting the game controller down; "I know what this is about"

Kevin looked up at him; "You do?"

Max wrapped his hands around Kevin's face; "Yeah..." He whispered; "You didn't want to play video games at all..."

Kevin smiled; "Am I that obvious?"

Max kissed him, Kevin grabbed at his hair, wanting to feel Max's touch more. Max smirked during the kiss, he placed one his hands on Kevin's leg. Kevin shifted until he was on his knees on the couch, it made Max have to look up and work for Kevin. Kevin kept his hand around Max's neck, getting him as close as he could. Max ran hands around Kevin's hips.

They fell over eventually, both of them broke out in laughter, but Kevin never stopped looking at Max. When Max looked into his eyes, Kevin really thought that he loved him.

* * *

"Ugh" was literally the first thing Kevin said that morning.

_Why the hell did I have that dream?_

It was the first time Kevin let Max into his house without parental supervision, it was a big deal at the time for Kevin but now it seemed to only be a reminder that nothing in the world goes how you want it to go.

"Well don't you look grumpy this morning." Lynette said, she sat across him at the Aphrodite table in the Dining Pavilion, it was so loud with the voices of hundreds of kids. It wasn't the place to be with a headache.

Kevin just kept eating his breakfast, or he tried to at first...

Bryce sat next to him; "Hello? Earth to Kevin! Maybe he's brain dead"

Karina sat on the other side; "Are you okay?"

Kevin dropped his fork and rubbed his head; "Listen guys... I just didn't sleep well last night..."

"Why?" Karina asked innocently

"I just... have been having bad dreams lately..." Kevin didn't want to sound angry

Karina smiled; "Maybe that Taraxippus is still haunting him!"

_That's right!_

Kevin almost totally forgot what happened last night, he convinced Nico di Angelo to stay a few days! He stood up, looking around the pavilion for the Hades table, when he spotted it he found that it was empty.

A satyr walked by and Kevin grabbed him; "Excuse me, do you know where Nico di Angelo is?"

"Um, Nico doesn't eat with the rest of everyone, I think he waits until everyone's gone or gets outside food" the satyr said, before walking away

He looked around again, this time his eyes met Victoria's at the Apollo table. She waved at him and gave a half smile, Kevin noticed that the whole Apollo table were eating in silence. Kevin wanted to walk over to them and ask if everything was alright.

"Hey" a girl's voice said

Kevin turned and faced Drew.

"Oh, hey..." Kevin didn't really get along with everyone much less a person like Drew

Drew looked up, thinking, and then looked back at Kevin; "Looks like you're the talk of the camp, I hear you've been busy lately"

"Who? Me?" Kevin said

"Yes, you. word gets around fast here... First you save Karina and now the business with the Taraxippoi"

"Taraxippus! It was only one..." Kevin corrected with a smile

Drew frowned; "So what? Now that you take care of _one_ ghost you think you're the Camp Hero or something?"

"I-I didn't, it was Nico..." Kevin admitted

"The Son of Hades?" Drew blinked; "I should have known, you couldn't have managed doing anything like that"

"Hey!"

Drew looked up; "In fact, I'm surprised he's hiding and letting you take all the credit"

Kevin grinned; "He likes his privacy and I'm not taking credit for anything!"

"Doesn't sound like it"

Kevin sighed; "Listen, I tried to help him last night... I didn't do very great... If you could be so kind as to clear that up with anyone I would appreciate it"

Drew walked around Kevin; "I'm sure you tried your best, I mean he's a Son of Hades, the rest of us don't look very impressive compared to him"

"Yeah, he's pretty cool..." Kevin said

Drew stopped walking; "Cool? I've never heard that used to describe him"

"Why not? You just said he's stronger than most of us..." Kevin wasn't smiling anymore

"I did, doesn't mean anyone particularly likes him..."

Kevin was confused; "Wait, what do you mean no one likes him?"

"I didn't say that... But..." Drew shrugged; "He's like... The opposite of us, he acts like he's too good for this camp, for friends, he doesn't ever do anything with anybody"

"He helped save the world, that something he did with other people!" Kevin pointed out; "He let me help him yesterday"

Drew smirked; "I don't know why you're getting so defensive-"

"Because this doesn't make sense! Have you ever even had a conversation with him!" it didn't matter how loud Kevin yelled, no one could hear anything while in that Pavilion.

"Like I would ever want to" Drew rolled her eyes

"Whatever" Kevin said, leaving it all behind.

* * *

Nico had his share of weird demigod dreams.

They weren't bittersweet memories of Love or visions of the future. Nico's dreams makes those look like walks in parks, Nico had the curse of dreaming about the past.

Whenever Nico sensed the underworld, it became ingrained into his memory. Many dreams were about the underworld, when he was younger he had visions of his sister Bianca being judged over and over again. Even when he brought Hazel back to life was something he dreamed about many times.

Tartarus was the biggest source of nightmares for Nico, flashes of red and darkness kept him awake many nights. Fighting monsters, not only almost dying but feeling what death was like for others would be enough to drive anyone else insane.

A loud knock on the door woke Nico up from such dreams.

_Knock-Knock_

"Mmm..." Nico tried to say.

_**Knock-Knock**_

"I'm up!" Nico yelled while sitting up

He walked out of his bed, sleeping in the Hades cabin he helped built, wearing a sleeveless shirt and his long hair was in a big way mess. He didn't really care that his pants were sagging a little and he didn't even notice the part of his boxers sticking out.

He opened the door expecting Chiron or one those satyrs; "What!?" he snapped

But to his surprise Kevin was standing there; "Uh, Good morning"

Nico closed the door half way; "Um... morning..." the sunlight was hurting his eyes.

"We missed you at breakfast, I brought you an apple, it was the only thing that didn't require a plate" Kevin held it out

Nico took it; "Thanks but I don't really eat that much"

"I can tell" Kevin smiled

"Shut up" Nico muttered; "I happen to be fine with myself"

"I didn't say you shouldn't be, but eating is important, not to mention one of my favorite activities" said Kevin

"Hmm" Nico glared at Kevin, who was wearing a blue open shirt on top of the Camp Half-Blood shirt, his hair seemed to do a natural spike upward and if Nico had to guess Kevin was half a foot taller than him. Still, Nico knew that there worse people that could be bothering him.

"So... Today's Tuesday which means Javelin throwing training! I know, it's not as exciting as arrows or convenient as swords but it's skill they insist we all have to have" Kevin smiled; "Since you're back it would be cool to see what you can do, maybe you can show off-"

"I don't do camp activities... When I show up it's on a visiting basis, that's why don't live here." Nico said

Kevin nodded; "Don't want to get roped into doing stuff, I get it, I used to hate school back at my old place..."

"I can't imagine why..." Nico muttered

"At 1:30, a bunch of us are doing Volleyball league, is that something you'd be into?" Kevin said

Nico groaned; "I don't know..."

"It's a lot fun! I promise!" Kevin's was grinning like he always seemed to be.

"I'll think about it..."

"That's all I can ask for" Kevin beamed and walked away. He yelled from a far; "Eat your apple!"

Nico closed the door and stood there for a while. _What am I doing here?_

He walked over and fell on his bed face first. He thought about yesterday, how Kevin was smiling when he spoke; _"We're friends now! Duh!"_

Nico rolled over and laid on his back. He ran his free hand through his bangs, and let his hair fall on top of his eyes.

He let himself be coursed so easily, he didn't like Camp Half-Blood but he agreed to stay because of that nosy Son of Aphrodite! He nothing but trouble, Nico didn't need help from anyone with the Taraxippus but Kevin forced himself anyway. Even now he was still bugging Nico,_ I should just leave and tell no one..._

Nico would think that Kevin was charm-speaking him but that would mean something else.

Nico sat up, _the only way Kevin could be charm speaking me would be if..._

Nico's face turned red, he clenched his fist and closed his eyes.

"No! I can't be charmed!" Nico nodded, the only solution was that needed time to rest and Camp Half-Blood was place he chose, and no other reason.

"No other reason" Nico repeated to himself.

* * *

Kevin's day seemed to be going horribly slow. First off, Victoria didn't show up to anything scheduled, Loukas also decided to hang out with his other satyr friends today and Nico was still nowhere to be seen.

Karina walked up to him; "I'll play with you today!"

"Thanks Kar, but your too young to play with our volleyball league..." Kevin replied.

"Kevin!" a boy's voice called out

Kevin stopped.

A young guy named Wyatt ran up next to him; "Where is Victoria!?"

"Man, I don't know! I haven't really seen any of the Apollo kids today" Kevin said

"Oh no, Fran's gonna be pissed..." Wyatt said

"Why?"

"We won't be able to play in the volleyball league today!"

Kevin shrugged; "We'll find another player, in fact! I already have someone in mind..."

"Me?" Karina questioned

"Nice try short fry" Wyatt smiled; "But Kevin, Bryce said he's leaving our team! We need two new players today!"

"Why would he- ugh..." Kevin hit his face; "Don't worry, I'll find two players... Even if I have to drag Loukas out of the woods"

"Awesome Opossum! Fran won't kill me now!" Wyatt ran away

Karina grabbed Kevin's hand; "Who are you going to get?"

"Nico di Angelo" Kevin walked all the way back to the Hades cabin and knocked.

The door opened; "Whaaat?" Nico yawned

"Hey man, I was wondering if you decided to play or not" Kevin said

"Yeah, about that..." Nico wasn't looking Kevin in the eye; "I decided... not to"

"Wait!" Kevin held the door with his hand

"Hey!" Nico tried to close the door again

"Please, Nico! any other day I would be okay with it, but today I need you!" Kevin pleaded

Nico shook his head; "No way"

"Come on, isn't there anything I could do to change your mind?" Kevin's hands were folded

Nico thought about it; "I don't know-"

"I'll do your laundry! I'll fetch you all your meals... I'll clean your cabin for a month!" Kevin tried to think of more suggestions

"Okay! Okay..." Nico yelled; "If it's that important... I'll play"

Kevin's face lit up; "Yes! Thank you so much!"

Nico grunted; "Yeah..."

Nico walked out the door but Kevin stopped him; "You're playing in that?" Kevin pointed at all of Nico's clothes

"Yes, why? What's wrong?" Nico was already annoyed

Kevin shrugged; "It's just, really hot... And I don't think black jeans and aviator jacket works in sports..."

"Well these are the only pants I have!" Nico said through his teeth

Kevin took a few steps back; "I have shorts if you want to borrow them..."

"No."

"Just borrow the shorts Nico, I don't want you fainting from heat stroke" Kevin was assertive.

Nico crossed his arms.

"Come on! It'll take like one minute!" Kevin crossed his arms too.

Nico grunted; _"Fine"_

* * *

This day wasn't going at all how Nico planned, He followed Kevin again to the Aphrodite's cabin. When the two of them walked in they were greeted by Bryce.

"Hey guys" Bryce raised his hand to wave

"Bryce!" Kevin raised his voice; "How could you abandon the team today!"

Bryce scratched his head; "Listen Kev, as long as you and I are in the same team then no one is gonna notice _me._ That's just what happen when two sons of Aphrodite are together at the same time. And you know what? I'm pretty good at volleyball... So maybe I would like not to be in your shadow and all, Who cares? But I'm sure you all will do fine. Tell everyone I'm sorry"

"You should tell them, we could have been disqualified today, luckily Nico's filling in for you" Kevin gestured at Nico

Nico didn't wave or anything, just glared.

"Um, Cool?" Bryce shrugged

Kevin nodded, walking over to his duffle bag and pulling out a pair of tan shorts, he handed them to Nico.

Nico just stared at them, then he glared toward Kevin and Bryce.

"What is it?" Kevin asked

"You're still in here"

Bryce chuckled; "Don't worry! There aren't any girls here."

"That's not what I meant"

"Nico, we've all had gym class, no need to be so shy-" said Kevin

"Get out!" Nico yelled

That was enough for Bryce to push Kevin outside and to follow suit. Nico couldn't hear them if they were talking, and Bryce was right, there was no one else here. It wasn't that Nico was modest, he just never changed in front of people. He wouldn't admit being embarrassed even if you tortured him. His hair kept falling on his face while he looked down.

_Hm... Maybe having this hair will cause trouble while playing..._

Nico's legs felt airy, which he noticed he was a lot cooler now without those tight black jeans. But the shorts kept falling, Nico's face turned red; "Damn it..."

"What's up?" Kevin peeked his head through the door.

"These- These don't fit me!" Nico lowered his eyebrows.

"You just need a belt." Kevin looked through his duffle bag some more.

Nico saw a hair tie on the floor, probably belonging to one of Kevin's sisters. No matter, Nico picked it up and tied his hair back in a messy ponytail.

Without turning, Kevin put a belt on the floor behind him; "See if this one fits, I might have another one"

Nico picked it up and it made the shorts now fit perfectly; "This one is fine" Nico was awfully comfortable in Kevin's shorts.

"Good" Kevin turned around; "Cause today has been full of..." He looked up at Nico; "...Problems..."

Kevin's face was expressionless, he didn't look confused, happy or angry, he was just staring at Nico. When people normally stare at Nico it's because their freaked out about him, Kevin staring only made Nico remember that and become increasingly embarrassed.

"What? Is there something on my face?" Nico asked.

Kevin didn't say anything, he just stayed sitting on the floor, like he was stuck in la la land. Nico didn't know what in the world is going on, but he didn't like it.

Nico blushed horribly; "What!?"

"Huh?" Kevin snapped out of it; "You look good, I mean, It's a good look for you."

He stood up and dusted himself off; "Ready to go?"

Nico nodded.

* * *

At the Volleyball court outside, Kevin and Nico were arriving just before 1:30, Nico noticed that the other team hadn't even arrived yet.

"Kevin!" A tall girl yelled, her brown hair was in a high braid. She waved at them to come closer.

"Hey Fran, Have you met Nico di Angelo?" Kevin presented Nico

She looked over; "Uh, no actually" she held her hand out; "How do you do?"

Nico shook her hand; "Fine"

"I'm Frances, But you can call me Fran-"

"Or Franny!" Kevin copied Karina's high voice

"Please don't" Fran said; "My mother is Nike"

Nico nodded; "Goddess of Victory?"

She smiled; "I'm very proud of that"

"You can imagine what a pain it is to work with someone so obsessed with winning, it can be a drag" Wyatt said

Fran hit him in the shoulder; "Winning is how you grow, how you become better and learn to work harder"

"Ow, gods women, you hit like a hammer" Wyatt rubbed his arm

Nico looked questioningly at Kevin.

_'I don't know, he just says things.'_ Kevin mouthed

"I'm Wyatt by the way!" He smiled; "My mom's Tyche. So I have a lot of random luck!"

Fran rolled her eyes; "More like dumb luck"

Nico notice another boy sitting on the ground with his head resting on his hand.

"Sleepy over there is Neal, son of Hypnos" Wyatt said

Neal opened his eyes; "I'm not sleeping! Just... resting" he closed his eyes again.

"So, who are we playing today?" Kevin asked

"Mark and Sherman's team" Fran said

"Seriously?" Kevin asked; "Aren't they undefeated?"

"Yes" Fran's voice was frustrated; "And it doesn't help we're still short one player"

"It's not like we could've won..." Neal stated

"What about her?" Kevin pointed behind everyone, on a bench next to the court was a pale girl with extremely long dark hair with bangs right above her eyes. She was drawing on a pad.

"That's Sawyer, she's literally been to all our games and watched us" Fran said

Kevin was surprised; "Really? Why?"

"Why would I know?"

"Well, I'm gonna go ask!" Kevin walked away, Nico didn't know what to do so he followed him over to Sawyer.

Sawyer looked up with big eyes; "Can I help you?"

Kevin smiled; "I hear you're our biggest fan"

She blushed; "I like volleyball"

"Great! Would you like to play on our team?" Kevin asked

Sawyer looked around; "Where's Bryce?"

"He-uh- Couldn't make it today" Kevin said

She looked disappointed.

"But I would really appreciate your help!" Kevin grinned

"I- guess I could..." Sawyer stood up, she looked more uncomfortable then Nico.

Nico noticed that the other team had showed up, They were led by Mark and Sherman, sons of Ares who helped during the titan war a few years back. There were several other players that Nico didn't know.

One, who was wearing glasses, walked up to the net and called out; "Kevin!"

Nico watched as Kevin smiled and ran up to the net.

"Do you know how to play Nico?" Wyatt asked, but Nico was distracted watching Kevin talk to the other player. His eyes widened when Kevin and the player started laughing.

"Who is that?" Nico asked

Wyatt looked over at Kevin; "I think that's... Ross Su?"

Ross and Kevin were still talking when Fran called out; "Alright! Let's start!"

Mark and Sherman started off in the front row closest to the net.

Kevin, Fran and Wyatt also stood in front while Nico, Sawyer and Neal were in the back. Kevin stood in front of Nico, he glanced over at Nico giving him a thumbs up and a smile. Nico looked away and was grateful that he was standing in the back row, maybe it meant that he wouldn't have to play too much and not put that much effort.

Fran and Mark tossed a coin.

"Heads" Fran said, but the coin was on tails.

Mark scoffed; "We choose for you to start"

Fran looked at Neal who was in the back corner, she nodded at him and he nodded back. Nico noticed everyone standing in a special way, most were bending their knees with their arms also in place.

Neal served the ball to the other side of the net and Nico didn't even notice it being hit back until it zipped by his head.

"Aw!" Wyatt yelled out

Nico was shocked; "I didn't even-"

"It's cool Nico" Neal said; "Those guys are crazy good"

The ball didn't even come close to Nico after that, it was like those Ares sons were purposely aimed at anyone besides Nico, Fran and Kevin. Wyatt kept missing the ball when it was near him, Sawyer wasn't hitting it hard enough and it kept hitting the net, and when Neal hit the ball it hit someone in the face. Even Kevin tripped out of bounds trying to hit the ball.

Before Nico knew it the other team had ten points and they only had four. Fran called out for a Time-Out and everyone went to sit at the benches.

"I can't believe we're gonna lose again..." Wyatt said.

"There's still hope, we haven't even been playing for an hour" Fran said

"Why? No one can score a point, I wish Victoria was here..." Wyatt whined

Fran frowned; "You can't even hit the ball Wyatt!"

"How long are we suppose to play this?" Nico asked

Kevin scratched his head; "Well, we only play one set of 25 points, so not long" Kevin took off his plaid shirt that he wore over his Camp Half-Blood shirt.

"Woo! Take it off!" A girl yelled from the other team.

Kevin smiled and waved.

Nico just stared from the bench, he hated attention from random strangers, it was weird seeing Kevin so confident but then again he is handsome and knows it. He noticed that Ross Su again, he was staring at Kevin with a big grin.

"I think you're being checked out" Wyatt said to Fran

Fran rolled his eyes; "Idiot, he's looking at Kevin"

"I know I just wanted to get your hopes up" Wyatt laughed

"Ugh, let's just play" She said.

Nico stood in the serving spot but it was Mark and Sherman's team's turn. Mark was serving and when he hit the ball it fell next to Nico, Nico looked up and Mark High-Fived Sherman, Then Sherman served this time, he also aimed for Nico and they got the point.

Nico narrowed his eyes; Why the hell did he not hit the ball!?

"It's okay Nico..." Kevin said

Nico looked over to Kevin's gold eyes.

Kevin wore a small smile; "...As long as you try your best"

Nico repositioned himself; "This _isn't_ my best"

When Ross served the ball Kevin hit back to them and this time when the ball came to Nico, he jumped up and hit the ball as hard as he could, it flew back over to the other side, the ground almost felt like it shook.

Mark and Sherman were confused, everyone was! They all stared at Nico, Kevin was the only one smiling in excitement. Nico like seeing them all afraid, he smiled and made sure to show his teeth.

"Can you do that again?" Fran whispered

"Of course" Nico said, fully knowing that his smile was considered creepy.

And he did. Nico was scoring like crazy, Not an hour went by when Fran's Team won 25-15. It was the first time Mark and Sherman lost a game all season, the two of them sat on the floor, both wearing long faces.

Nico was sweating and still breathing hard when Kevin picked him up and spun around.

"You did it!" Kevin half screamed

"Hey! Hey!" Nico yelled, he was way too hot for physical contact but when Kevin let him go, the rest of their team ran up and hugged him.

"You were awesome!" Wyatt yelled

Sawyer clapped; "That was so much fun!"

Nico was flustered, it felt like everyone was pushing and pulling him back and forth.

"I'm not sorry Bryce left!" Neal pointed out

Sawyer looked at him; "Wait, what?"

* * *

"To Nico!" Fran yelled, the whole group of them sat in picnic benches by the lake; "For giving us a win in his first game!"

"Here, Here!" They all yelled toasting Nico.

Nico found himself smiling; "It was nothing..."

"Don't be so modest!" Neal patted him on the back

"We owe our victory to you!" Wyatt said; "May we always win Volleyball and humiliate Mark and Sherman, together!"

Nico shyly hit his glass with Wyatt's. He looked around and saw they were all smiling, even Fran. After awhile Kevin left the table and Nico followed him.

Kevin was leaning' against a tree, looking at the lake water.

"Um, Hey" Nico said

Kevin looked over and noticed him; "Oh! Hey Man, great job today!"

Nico was breathing hard; "Yeah... I just wanted to... Thank you..."

Kevin was confused; "Thank me? For what?"

"Today..." Nico scratched his arm; "For asking me to stay..."

Kevin's face brightened up; "No problem, I knew you'd have fun"

"I haven't had fun... In a long time" Nico admitted, walking next to Kevin.

Kevin looked around; "I- wow... Well now you have more friends, you can hang out with them all you want"

"I don't usually hang out either" Nico said; "I don't have a lot in common with people..."

Kevin nodded; "Well there has to be something... Like any games?"

"I used to like mythomagic... I check up on it ever so often to hear about new cards..." Nico blushed; "Do you like mythomagic?"

Kevin frowned; "I meant video games... Sorry, I've never played"

"Oh..." Nico looked down, he turned around to walk away

"But I like the show" Kevin said

Nico turned sharply; "There's a show!?"

Kevin laughed; "Yeah man! It's really funny, it's about a bunch of kids who have to save the world with the card game. It only has one season but it's so cool man..."

"I can't believe it, I need to watch TV more!" Nico was talking a lot louder than normal

Kevin was still grinning; "I've never played but I do know how to. And I promise you Nico, if we ever go to the outside Camp Half-Blood then we will watch the show together"

Nico rubbed his neck; "Well, if you want... I can shadow travel you out of here anytime you want... No one would notice"

Kevin held his hand out; "It's a deal then"

Nico smiled sheepishly; "Deal..." and shook Kevin's hand

"Nico! Come back!" Wyatt yelled; "Tell us what you did about the Taraxippus!"

Kevin looked at Nico; "Let's go?"

Nico nodded, walking ahead of Kevin;

"Easy! There was a broken Poseidon statue, it just needed to be fixed and it went away forever..."

* * *

_**A/N: I don't know how I managed to create a bunch of Original Characters, this wasn't planned.**_

_**But I thought I needed a relaxing chapter before I go forth with my plans with the plot in all, next chapter is gonna introduce some new stuff that I hope you all like.**_

_**Don't forget to review, tell me what I can improve on and what not**_


	7. So Shall it Be

_A/N: Ugh! School and Life!_

* * *

**So Shall it Be**

Much like his other dream, this one began the same way, Kevin was in a house he once lived in, Kevin walked down the familiar hallway into his old room.

When he opened the door, he was afraid he already knew what was waiting for him.

But it wasn't Max.

"Hey! You're late" Nico was sitting on a couch holding several cards in his hands.

"Nico?" Kevin walked up to him.

"Yeah? Who were you expecting?" Nico looked over, his hair was up in ponytail, exposing more of his face. Man, did he look good...

Kevin sat down on the couch.

Nico passed something to Kevin; "Here, I got you these"

It was a box of cookies, with the McDonald's logo.

"I know you have a sweet tooth" Nico was eating fries

"Hey thanks!" Kevin ate one.

Nico grabbed another box; "So I bought you a starter deck, don't worry I'll go easy on you... at first"

Kevin looked over at Nico, he was still talking about Mythomagic with a big grin. Kevin had never seen Nico this happy, maybe it's just the cards but it made Kevin think Nico should always be smiling.

_But this is a dream..._

Nico wasn't really happy, at least not like this... Unless this dream was a projection? It was Kevin wanting him to be this... beautiful...

"What's wrong?" Nico asked, he was closer to Kevin then a moment ago.

Kevin opened his mouth to speak but then a loud noise went off.

* * *

When he opened his eyes he looked around, it was still night and everyone was asleep. He could even hear Bryce snoring on the top bunk. Maybe there was a bird outside or something but Kevin definitely heard something.

"Uh..." Kevin fell face first back into his pillow.

Then he dreamed again.

* * *

This time was the exact opposite, Kevin now stood in a hallway he had never seen before. Or was it hallway? Was it a cave? Was He in a building? He wasn't sure, the walls resembled a mix of natural caves and cement buildings.

The air also smelled of ash, like the building was on fire!

"Hello!? Is anyone there!?" Kevin started running like mad.

The walls started to become redder and redder, Kevin was breathing heavily, not knowing where he was going; _Just anywhere but here!_

He ran past what looked like elevator shafts, all of them were empty, then he noticed Nico standing in front of one of them.

"Nico!" Kevin could have cried, he ran up and couldn't help but hug him.

Oddly enough, Nico hugged him back; "Kevin..." His voice was soft

Kevin let him go and noticed Nico looked different, his hair was short now, like really short, and his eyes were more sunken in then ever. He looked upset, but not like he normally does, like something was broken.

"Nico?" Kevin asked, he looked down and noticed rope was tied around Nico's thighs and hip. "What's going on?"

"We don't have time for this Kevin, you know my mission..." Nico looked away

"What are you talking about it!? What the hell is going on!?" Kevin was shaking now

Nico grabbed his arm; "This is _no_ time to be freaking out, you're not even suppose to be here..."

"I wanted to see you"

The voice sounded like Kevin's,_ but I didn't say that, I think?_

Nico sighed; "Kevin, I don't know what will happen today, but I can tell many of us will die... And that could be me or you-" Nico looked away

Kevin was speechless.

Nico finally looked him straight in the eye; "If something happens... Then you should know... Kevin, I-"

* * *

"Kevin!"

Kevin sat up; "What!? I'm up!"

Bryce laughed; "Come on buddy, you slept in and missed breakfast!"

Kevin was used to a restless night due to dreams, he had weird dreams all the time about Max and his family. But these were different, oddly specific and hadn't happen. Before coming to Camp Half-Blood Kevin never had these kinds of lucid dreams.

"I'm sorry, didn't sleep well..." Kevin avoided all eye contact

"Whatever I'm not the one who's going to starve all day" Bryce said, others would say it looked like he ran away as fast as he could.

Kevin sat on the edge of his bed, running his fingers through his naturally spiked hair, well it's natural now. He let out a loud sigh;

Kevin yawned; _Why was I dreaming about hanging out with Nico? And what was up with that weird place?_

Nico and Kevin did have plans but Kevin hung out with lots of people and none of them warranted a dream much less two. Kevin began to think about Nico, how when he first heard about him he was excited about meeting a hero.

Nico was everything he expected and more, the best thing about Nico was that he wasn't snooty or power hungry. He acted like a normal guy,_ a normal, amazing, cool, smart guy..._

_Nico is ordinary! He has normal hair, eyes and body... From his dark wavy hair that framed his face too perfectly... And his dark eyes that could make Kevin shiver in a good way... And he's only a little muscular..._

_He's not even that funny! He only made me laugh sometimes..._

_He's not... not that attractive... I mean sure anyone would like him once they get past that frown..._

_He's a great friend! That's it, that's why I dreamt about him..._

_..._

Kevin stood up; "Oh crap!"

He started walking in circles; "Oh crap, oh crap... When did this happen!?"

_ you don't have to over think it, It meant nothing!_

He rolled his eyes; _Yeah right... I couldn't stop looking at him yesterday..._

He fell back in his bed and stared at the top bunk, he made a half yell and grunt noise; "No, no, please no..."

why was this happening now? Didn't Kevin have his heart broken enough times?

_What happened to working on yourself? And staying single? How this happen?_

Kevin face palmed.

**_"The heart what the heart wants..." _**_A weird voice said_

"The heck?" Kevin sat up again and looked around; "Hello?"

He stood up. No one was in the cabin; maybe Kevin was going crazy?

"Great" Kevin had enough problems

_**"Love just happens"** the voice was more feminine this time_

Kevin ran out the cabin, He looked around again, but no one was close enough to be able to speak that loudly; "Is this some kind of trick!?"

A few demigods walked by him with confused expressions, now Kevin really looked crazy.

* * *

When Nico opened his eyes, it was already the afternoon.

He yawned and got out of bed. He was still wearing those shorts and his hair was in a messy ponytail, he was way too tired from last night to change. Him and the volleyball team talked for hours. They all kept asking him questions and normally he didn't like attention but he let it slide this one time.

He didn't want to admit it, but he liked wearing these clothes, probably because the summer. Nico wasn't exactly taught manners or the proper etiquette for borrowing clothes. Is he suppose to return them right away or is it keep it forever with actually telling them you're keeping it?

Nico pondered,_ I should ask to borrow longer?_

Is that something people do? Nico undid his ponytail and felt his waves of hair fall across his shoulders.

_Maybe I'm suppose to give Kevin something in return?_

Nico's thought quickly pointed to a memory of Kevin's goofy smile while eating sweets, _that boy sure can eat..._

He opened his cabin doors and felt the summer air pour in, already he felt muggy; "Hn..." He realized wanting to wear his jacket was once again a bad idea, then he remembered his hair was still down.

_"It's a good look for you!"_ Kevin's voice rang in Nico's ears

"No, I don't have to do anything anyone says" He mumbled to himself

He didn't know it, but he walked around the camp with a scowl, he then transported himself to the nearby McDonald's.

When he returned he searched for Kevin, he spotted him walking by himself. Before Nico called out him he noticed Kevin's demeanor was different, Kevin was frowning with his hands in his pockets. It was very unlike him, even Nico knew that meant something was wrong.

Nico walked up behind him; "Kevin-"

Kevin jumped; "Oh! Nico, you scared me! Not that you're scary I just didn't expect you! You scamp, how're you!?"

Nico raised an eyebrow; "Fine, I was just wondering if it was okay if I could borrow these shorts a little longer, I promise I'll wash them... It's just been so warm-"

Kevin laughed hysterically; "Right! You're hot! I mean you're probably hot, stupid whether! me tired, I'm tired!"

"Do you always just spout out nonsense when you're tired?"

"I've been called a spazz a few times in my life. Yes" Kevin nodded

Nico grunted; "Here... I got you these-"

"Cookies!?" Kevin yelled, Nico had mistaken it for excitement

"Yeah" Nico smiled; "I know you have a sweet tooth"

Kevin turned around quickly. He was silent but looked like he was shaking;

"Hey, What's wrong?" Nico asked

Kevin took a few steps away; "Um, nothing... I should go!"

"Did-Did I do something wrong?" Nico lowered the cookies

Something about that calmed Kevin down; "What? No, I've had a long day Nico"

Nico looked away from Kevin; "Well then I guess I'll be going..." he tossed the cookies to Kevin and walked away.

_So much for being friends..._

* * *

Kevin kept rubbing his forehead, he sat alone on a picnic bench. Kevin's face was red, it didn't help that all day all he could think about was Nico di Angelo, not to mention the whole dreaming about him thing.

"Hi Kevin" A girl's voice said

Kevin looked up, surprisingly it was Sawyer.

"Uh, hey, this isn't a good-"

"I have to ask you something!" She said, her voice rising

Kevin took a deep breath; "Okay... What is it?"

Her face was pink, she was breathing slowly; "I wanted-so-some advice!"

Kevin was frowning; "On what?"

"Well, I know this might be shocking but... I have a crush on someone!" She was still pink but her voice was determined

Kevin remained silent.

"And as a son of Aphrodite, I thought you would give the best advice!" She half yelled

Kevin face palmed again; "Sawyer, I literally have several others sisters or brothers you could talk to about this... Can you please leave me-"

"But you're my friend-" She said

"I have my own problems Sawyer!" Kevin yelled, when he saw Sawyer was hurt; "I'm sorry..."

"What... What's wrong with you?" She asked

Kevin's head fell into his hands; "I don't know! I just, I keep having these weird dreams."

"You know Demigod dreams are a serious matter!" Sawyer nodded; "Maybe you're dreaming of the future?"

The vision of Nico smiling and playing cards didn't seem so bad for the future, it was that building of fire that Kevin was scared off.

"It can't be. Even if it is, I don't know what it means"

Sawyer shrugged; "I remember Piper talking about it once, something about you Aphrodite kids seeing what _could_ happen... I mean when it comes to love"

Kevin wanted none of that.

"I wish I could talk to Piper about it"

"Too bad she's going to college at Camp Jupiter" Sawyer stated

"Thanks, I know." Kevin rubbed his forehead

There was an awkward silence between them, not that Kevin noticed, too busy thinking of himself. Even if he totally ignored all the Nico details in his dreams, where was the red building? Why was he there?

_"but I can tell many of us will die..."_ Nico had said

_If that's the future then that means that was an older Nico, and at some point something terrible enough will appear that might kill us... Great_

Kevin started wondering if he should share this dream with Chiron, but then again he had no context and had no way of knowing when it will happen.

"Have you ever been in love?" Sawyer whispered

That was the question, was Kevin ever in love? Or did he simply care deeply about someone he thought cared about him?

"If not, have you ever had a crush?" Sawyer asked

Kevin didn't even let his mind wander; "No, crushes lead to dating, dating leads to heart break, why would you want that?"

Sawyer's eyes widened; "How could you say that? You're the Son of the Goddess of love?"

"Guess what? I don't care, I don't want to be in love... It's a waste of time" Kevin crossed his arms, he just wanted this conversation to end.

Sawyer stood up, "You're lying, you want love just as much as you always have, I'm sorry that someone broke your heart, that wasn't right but neither is you shoving this opinion down people's throats."

Kevin was again speechless, he wouldn't never pegged Sawyer as the kind of person to tell him off.

she turned to walk away but then turned her head back; "And don't you think not telling someone how you feel is just as painful?" this time she didn't return.

"Damn it... First Nico now Sawyer" Kevin hated how good he was at pushing people away.

* * *

Nico sat on a branch of a tree by the lake. It was night time and the Apollo Cabin would soon host their annoying campfire song event like always. Nico wondered why he bothered even coming back to this stupid place or why even put any of his hope into anyone anymore. He was almost eighteen, time for his to grow up and accept that what he really wanted wasn't in the cards for him.

He hit the back of his head against the tree and sighed.

"Nico?" the voice immediately registered to Nico as Kevin's.

He looked over his shoulder and noticed Kevin standing there at the base of the tree; "Can we talk?" Kevin asked

Nico silently pushed himself off the branch and landed on his two feet. He hoped that it would intimidate or impress Kevin, either works at the point.

"I'm listening" He said lowly

Kevin was frowning, like he was in pain; "I'm sorry about how I acted today"

"Why? It's not like you insulted me or something" Nico said, his eyes peeking through the wild hair on his face.

It wasn't like Kevin to be upset, he mostly seemed like a cheerful person, but then again he also seemed to have hidden depths about him. Nico realized he only assumed Kevin was a happy guy, for all he knew Kevin hated everything and only pretended to be happy all the time.

"I know some people think I'm all together and have everything figured out, but a month ago I was in a normal High School, now I'm in a magical camp where anyone, and I do mean anyone, can become a hero..." Kevin said

Nico wasn't sure what this had to do with anything but remained silent.

"Even me, stupid, old, tries to be funny Kevin can be somebody here, and sometimes I think it would be awesome to be hero but other times I wonder if it really matters... But you don't worry about that, you're Nico di Angelo, you're a hero already and I'd be lying if I said that something like that can intimidate a guy... I acted the way I did today, because you make me nervous" Kevin took a breath

Nico stared at the ground; "I didn't realize that, I'm sorry I won't bother you anymore"

Kevin stepped in front of Nico; "Hey I didn't say I didn't to be friends, I still do!"

"You do? You just said I scare you..."

"I didn't say you scared me! I said you make me nervous, that's for a totally different reason!" Kevin stated

Nico looked him in the eye; "What reason?"

Kevin laughed weirdly again; "Um, because- Because..."

"Kevin!"

Kevin and Nico both turned toward a Satyr that ran up to him.

"Loukas?" Kevin asked; "Um, we're kinda having a private conversation"

"No, this is important!" Loukas was stressed; "Chiron has called a meeting with the camp"

* * *

The whole camp was sitting around the campfire, Nico looked around not knowing where to sit.

Kevin looked back; "Wanna sit with the Aphrodite kids?" he asked

Nico shook head; "No"

Kevin walked away, many kids kept bumping in him and shoving Nico around he thought it best to stand outside the crowd.

Chiron was already talking when Nico was able to get a little comfortable; "It has come to our attention that a certain animal of the gods has been lost. They do not how it disappeared or why. But the God Apollo has requested a Demigod to go find it"

Everyone started talking, there had been a few quests this year but none seemed this important.

"The Animal that was lost as the Sacred Stag also called Cerynitis or the Golden Hind, it has not been seen in weeks and Apollo believes it was taken for malicious reasons. He instructed that the strongest Demigod in Camp Half-Blood should go"

Again, the kids whispered to themselves.

Nico looked up and noticed Chiron looking at him, oh no...

"Nico di Angelo, will you take this quest? You are the most powerful of the Demigods here" Chiron asked loudly for everyone to here.

All the members of the camp turned their head to look at Nico; "I- I'm very busy, I doubt I could do a quest"

"Nico, this is important" Chiron said strongly

The whole camp stared at Nico, even Kevin was looking up at him, awaiting his answer. Nico nodded, clearly he didn't have a choice and this wasn't the place to be arguing with Chiron.

Rachel Elizabeth Dare stood up and walked over to Nico, she was smirking.

Nico turned toward her.

"You know what this means right?" She asked

Nico nodded; "Go ahead"

Her whole body convulsed as her eyes glowed and she spoke;

_The Ghost King shall go the caves of Rue__._

_The Arrow of Apollo shall be True. _

_A Pearl shall fall into the banks of Night._

_Only love can stop the Darkness and Light._

_Bewa__re for more danger is beneath the Veil._

_And without trust, you will surely Fail._

She blinked as if nothing happened; "Wow, that was a long one"

Everyone started talking again, some repeated what was just said others tried to figure out meaning.

Nico blinked, all of that was so jumbled.

"Nico di Angelo, do not forget you are allowed to take two companions" Chiron reminded him.

"A pearl and love? Aren't those symbols of Aphrodite?" A demigod stated, close enough for Nico to hear it.

His eyes couldn't help but fix onto Kevin. Kevin sat quietly among his siblings, he stared at Nico with gleaming gold eyes.

Nico took out his sword; "I chose Kevin, Son of Aphrodite"

That shut everyone up.

"Me?" Kevin asked lowly

"Kevin, come forth" Chiron said

Kevin stood up and walked over, he was smiling nervously; "Hey buddy..."

Nico nodded; "You helped me with the Taraxippus, mind helping me again?"

"Of course..." Kevin said sheepishly; "But don't we need a third person?"

"Well the prophecy said something the arrow of Apollo-"

"That has to be me" A girl said from the Apollo Cabin

Kevin gasped; "Victoria?"

Victoria was standing, her brother also stood up; "Vic, you've never been on a quest, you have no experience! How do you know it's you?"

"Because I said so" Kevin replied; "There's no one I'd rather be on a quest with"

Nico stared as the blond her walked over to them, she and Kevin were staring at each other with big smiles, like when two people share an inside joke. Kevin lit up looking at her, it was different than from his other smiles.

"I mean, Nico this is your quest" Kevin said

"I, if the prophecy says it's you, then it's you" Nico said

"Then it is decided. Nico di Angelo, Kevin and Victoria shall find Artemis' Stag" Chiron announced

Half the crowd clapped, some even cheered but most were still whispering.

"Our first quest Kevin, can you believe it?" Victoria whispered

"I know I'm kinda excited"" Kevin said, he looked over at Nico; "You okay?"

"I'm fine" Nico said, he wasn't looking forward to this quest at all.

* * *

_Author's Note: So I spent weeks thinking about these next few chapters, not really being able to brainstorm with anyone, but that's the price of writing. Also my life isn't the easiest right now, sorry if the next chapter takes awhile._

_I decided that when Demigods turn 18 they have the choice to go to college at Camp Jupiter although it's not mandatory, hence why Drew is still here._

_Reviews always help, thank you._


	8. One more Troubled Soul

_A/N: I'm not saying I should go back and rewrite the first few chapters but maybe I should edit them a little? Maybe improve a little? I've updated my profile_

_Anyway, thank you all for your favs and reviews_

* * *

**One More Troubled Soul**

In all of Victoria's nineteen years, the closest thing to a quest she had been on was the battle of New York all those years ago, but back then she was just another face in the Apollo Cabin. But not this time, this time she was chosen to go on the quest.

_I won't fail, this is my chance to prove myself_. She thought, for some reason in order to get true respect was to be in a successful quest. It was time for her older siblings to stop picking on her and maybe the rest of the camp would follow.

Plus a little attention from a certain Son of Ares wouldn't be so bad.

"If everything goes right than it's all uphill for me from now on..." She smiled, she was so excited she packed that night she heard the new prophecy. Now it was morning and she was dressed in her orange shirt.

She looked at the paper she wrote it down on,

_The Ghost King shall go the caves of Rue__._

_The Arrow of Apollo shall be True. _

_A Pearl shall fall into the banks of Night._

_Only love can stop the Darkness and Light._

_Bewa__re for more danger is beneath the Veil._

_And without trust, you will surely Fail._

_"_The arrow of Apollo shall be true, That only means I won't miss my mark!" She beamed with confidence, this was it, everything was going to be different from now on.

She decided to be the one to stop at the camp store, she took out both mortal money and some drachmas, she packed as much nectar and ambrosia as she could stuff into her bag.

She then grabbed the gift from Apollo, sonic arrows, which Victoria herself wasn't a big fan of using them but they were powerful and this was a quest! She also took her normal Celestial Bronze Arrows and her favorite throwing knife.

She looked at her hand, to anyone else it was just her hand but she took a deep breath; "_Only love can stop the Darkness and Light._.."

_I'll do whatever it takes to succeed, I'll use all my power if I have to..._

_"And without trust, you will surely Fail._"

Trust was a two way street and while she liked Kevin, he literally at the least experience in everyone in the camp, maybe it's too early for him to go on a quest? Then Victoria remembered Percy Jackson, how he was only twelve when he went on his first quest. And there was more to Kevin than meets the eye, she had to trust him in order to fail. She had to also trust Nico di Angelo...

She nodded, she was prepared and now it was time to meet up with Kevin and Nico.

* * *

"What do you mean you haven't packed yet!?" Nico yelled

Kevin was running frantically around his cabin; "I didn't know we were leaving right away!"

"_No time to Waste_, That's what Chiron always says" Nico stated; "You should have been at least a little prepared"

Kevin's face was red; "I don't go into your cabin and tell you how to live your life!" He grabbed rope, sleeping bag and Swiss army knife.

"What are you doing with those?" Nico asked

Kevin was frustrated; "We needed these things whenever we went on trips in Boys Scouts, I'm just preparing, like you said!"

He fell over a pile of the other Aphrodite's kids' clothes

Nico smirked.

He styled his hair the way Kevin liked it, he wore his sword over his shoulder and his aviator jacket.

"Aren't you hot?" Kevin asked, sitting on the floor

Nico shrugged; "I'll be fine"

"You sure wear that jacket a lot" said Kevin

Nico leaned against the wall; "It's just my favorite, I've had it for a really long time"

"Yeah, it shows" Bryce sat on his bed, reading something.

"Ignore him, it's a cool jacket, not exactly practical but cool" Kevin smiled

Nico looked away.

This feeling was beginning to get harder and harder to ignore, it's like every time Kevin smiled was like a ping of pain, every time Nico felt like to floor beneath him was giving out and he would fall.

"Hey Nico?" Kevin was trying to get his attention

"Hm?" Nico forced himself to look at Kevin

"Do you think we'll have enough time to get breakfast before leave?" Kevin had his hands behind his back

"Uh... I think so"

"Great!" Kevin brightened up; "I'm starving!"

Nico found himself smiling again, he started liking this feeling that Kevin's smile brought on.

"Already taken care of!" Victoria said, standing in the door frame

"Huh?" Nico said

She held out a plate of toast, fruit and hard boiled eggs. "Eat up, I figured you'd be late today!"

"Oh my gods, Victoria! Thank you!" Kevin took the plate and started eating as fast as he could, he smiled in content.

Victoria also smiled, then she stopped when she noticed Nico was staring at her.

"Ahem" She held out her hand; "We haven't officially met, I'm Victoria-"

"I know who you are, I assume you know me?" Nico asked, his voice was dry

Victoria brought her hand back; "Of course"

"Good. We need leave as soon as we can" Nico said, his voice was deep and Victoria wondered if he was always this grumpy

Kevin stood up; "Wait, do we even know where we're going?"

Victoria smiled; "Simple, '_The Ghost King shall go the caves of Rue'." _She repeated and looked at Nico; "And..." he was still glaring at her; "That's you..."

Nico crossed his arms; "The caves of Rue, I've only heard that term for one thing..."

Kevin and Victoria were equally interested; "What?"

"Well, throughout history, the gods have had several caves in their honor or for monsters but the only one that rings a bell about regret is... Corycian Cave"

Victoria looked down thoughtfully, while Nico waited for it sink in. Kevin, however, had no idea what that was.

He looked up at Bryce's bunk, Bryce looked down and had a_ 'What?_' look on his face

_'I don't know what they said'_ Kevin mouthed

Bryce rolled his eyes; "Hey guys, I wasn't paying attention, what did you just figure out?"

Victoria looked up; "Oh, Bryce, We just figured that our destination is probably the Corycian Cave, in ancient times it was the cave where the Oracle was when you wanted to see her"

"But the Oracle is here, where's the need for that cave?" Kevin asked

"There isn't, but maybe like everything else, it still exists in the Gods' Domain... But why would the stag be there?" Victoria looked back at Nico

Nico was searching the wall, like there was something there to read; "Maybe it's the last place anyone would look, an abandoned cave? It's the perfect place to hide... The problem is that it's just_ one_ small cave, the prophecy says_ 'caves of Rue'_. How are there more caves tied to this?"

Kevin shrugged; "Caves connect to caves all the time, it's not unnatural"

Victoria sighed; "But if something is already written into history than it shouldn't be different, whether in America or Greece or wherever!"

_"Bewa__re for more danger is beneath the Veil._" Nico repeated; "Something isn't right here... I just don't know what"

"Well wondering why isn't the important thing right now, we need figure out where we're going" Victoria said

"Yes! Thank you! Where is this Corycian Cave?" Kevin asked

**"**In ancient times, the cave was located on the slopes of Mount Parnassus, in Greece... But that's not the case now" Nico said

"It's in Florida!" Victoria yelled out

"And you know that, how? Exactly?" Nico asked

Victoria grinned; "It's a cave of Apollo! It's in the sunshine state!"

Nico was stumped.

"But Victoria, there aren't any mountains in Florida" Kevin said, both Nico and Victoria stared at him; "What? You guys didn't take sophomore geography?"

"I've been to busy... for school" Nico said

"Yeah, I've been training for as long as I can remember" Victoria was also embarrassed

Kevin smirked; "All your Greek mythology classes doesn't mean squat to the mortals"

Victoria waved her hand in the air; "Okay! That doesn't matter! The cave entrance is probably around the highest mountain in Florida, even if it's small, it's probably still there"

Kevin nodded; "Good enough for me" he grabbed his polaroid camera and took quick picture of Nico and Victoria, neither were prepared for it and neither were smiling.

"Gods, you guys look like you're being tortured..." Kevin said looking at the photo

"In a way, we are" said Nico

Bryce jumped down from his bunk; "I can't believe you guys are totally ignoring the whole Kevin's gonna drown part"

They all stared at Bryce.

"What are you talking about?" Kevin asked

_"A Pearl shall fall into the banks of Night." _Bryce said; "Don't any of you listen? We already know Kevin's the pearl of Aphrodite, banks mean river right? And Kevin didn't you tell me last week you can't swim?"

Nico looked over at Kevin, Kevin was speechless and suddenly his eyes widened; "You don't think- You don't actually believe that's me right!?"

Bryce stood motionless; "It has to be you"

"Kevin you don't know how to swim?" Victoria reached her hand out

Kevin back up against a wall; "No! Okay! I never learned and every time I tried I got stuck" He put his hands around his face

"Kev, I'm sorry, I thought you should know" Bryce said

Kevin was heaving; "I didn't think this quest would actually kill me..." He looked like he could faint

_It's not, I won't let it..._ Nico wanted to say, all his life people tried comforting him, Bianca, Percy and Hazel... Maybe it was his turn to be there for someone for once.

"Kevin listen to me" Victoria suddenly said; "I promise you right now you won't drown, I'll protect you okay?"

"You sound like my babysitter..." Kevin looked away; "What if I just get in the way?"

"You won't" She said; "_Only love can stop the Darkness and Light._ Remember? That's you, it has to be. So in this quest we need you, I need you"

Kevin looked at her, their eyes met; "Seriously?"

She smiled, she was good at this; "I need you more than anything, I want us both to get the respect and honor we deserve. But I need you to be strong right now for me, can you do that?"

Kevin finally had a small smile; "I think I can try..."

Nico's heart sank, why couldn't he spit it out?

Kevin started to breathe more calmly now, "Alright! What are we waiting for?"

Victoria said; "Nothing, Are you ready Nico?"

Nico was caught off guard; "Um, yes"

* * *

"Great. More walking" Kevin complained as they left Camp Half-Blood hill, he turned around and walked backwards to watch it grow smaller the further he walked. He'd only been there a month but he already thought of it as home.

Victoria laughed; "Don't worry, we won't be walking long, maybe we could catch a cab or bus-"

"Or we can shadow travel" Nico suggested

Kevin looked at him; "For real!?"

Nico nodded; "Yeah. I mean I don't usually travel with others often, but it should be alright"

Victoria frowned; "I don't know Nico, that sounds dangerous-"

"Why? Don't think I can do it?" Nico asked

"I'm not saying that! I'm just saying as the oldest person here we should be responsible and take safer means of travel"

"Well this is my quest! If I say shadow travel, then we should shadow travel! It's a lot faster than anything you'll suggest." Nico yelled

"Woah! Woah! Calm down guys!" Kevin walked between them

"Kevin! What do you think we should do?" Victoria asked

"I-uh, why don't you tell me why you don't want to shadow travel?" Kevin stalled

Victoria sighed; "I'm a daughter of Apollo, the god of light... I don't like the dark! And I think my opinion should matter"

Kevin grabbed her hand, Nico's eye twitched.

Kevin smiled at her; "You said you'd protect me right? I trust you and you trust me right?"

She nodded.

"Then trust Nico, trust that I trust Nico" Kevin looked at Nico; "We all need to trust each other for this to work, okay?"

Nico mumbled; "I never said I didn't trust you..." He walked over to them. He took both their hands, not that he was thrilled about it.

"No more fighting, okay?" Kevin said; "Promise?"

"Promise" Nico and Victoria said at the same time.

Victoria looked at the sky; "I guess we're all gonna be pushed to our limits..."

"Let's go..." Nico closed his eyes; "To Florida..."

Suddenly the sky turned black, Victoria took a deep breath it was like someone dropped her into water, her hair waved back and forth.

Trust them, trust them, trust them...

* * *

Kevin opened his eyes and breathed in heavily; "That was- oh my god!"

Victoria released his hand and held her head while coughing, it felt like the darkness was still around her. Her spine felt chills and her legs were like jelly.

Nico's eyes were still closed and he fell over.

"Hey!" Kevin grabbed him but fell to his knees too; "Nico?"

"He fainted" Victoria said; "I've heard stories about this, the more people he takes the more work it is, so it's like he travels three times the distance by taking us with him"

the two sat next to each other on their knees, Kevin was still holding on to Nico; "Um... Where are we?"

"I have no idea" Victoria looked around.

The trio were in small patch of grass surrounded by trees.

"I think we're in some woods... Probably" Kevin suggested, thinking of the night with the Taraxippus

Victoria stood up; "We're not gonna find the stag sitting here..."

"But Nico's asleep, I guess I can carry him?" Kevin tried lifting Nico, he was a little heavier than Kevin expected but it was doable

"No, I'm gonna look around, see if I can find a town. You and Nico stay here" Victoria grabbed her bag

"Wait What!?" Kevin protested; "You can't leave alone! It's dangerous"

"I'll be fine, I'll walk around for half an hour, okay?" She smiled reassuringly

Kevin set Nico down; "How will you find us?"

Victoria looked back, "In 30 minutes, start singing"

"You want me to sing?" He asked

She nodded; "Anything, we children of Apollo are drawn to music, it's how we find each other during capture the flag if we need help"

"Wow, you guys are weird" Kevin said

"Shut up!" She retorted.

* * *

Kevin sat in the grass for over twenty minutes by himself, the sun barely peaked through the trees, which was nice. He sat there thinking about everything, his life, his family and even his mom...

He rolled his eyes and they ended up at Nico, who was still asleep.

Kevin sighed, _this boy pushes himself too much..._

Kevin looked back at Nico's face, something he did a lot during this time alone. This time he looked there was something on his face, it was crawling.

"Hey!" Kevin turned himself completely around, he grabbed the bug off Nico's face and threw it. "Phew" He realized that most of Kevin's body leaned over Nico's. Nico's eyes were still like before, closed.

Kevin had been staring at Nico so long, but he had never had this chance to be this close to Nico's face without interruption. Nico was breathing softly, maybe dreaming? Kevin didn't know.

_Wow... He has really long eye lashes..._ Kevin felt so calm, his fingers graced over Nico's face. He pushed some of Nico's hair behind his ear, _gods, why doesn't anyone else notice how gorgeous he is?_

Anywhere else in time, Kevin would have asked Nico out in a second, but experience scared Kevin. Nothing ever worked out, giving someone yourself completely only gave them the chance to break you.

"Mn" Came out of Nico's mouth

Kevin realized how this looked and jumped back to where he was originally sitting. But Nico seemed to be still sleeping but Kevin wasn't sure.

Kevin's heart was pounding; _Crap, that was close..._

He realized it had probably been over thirty minutes, time for him to sing. Not that Kevin thought he could sing, but what if it were the only way to contact Victoria? He thought long about what he should sing.

He thought about something light hearted and began. It started like a whisper;

_"The sea said goodbye to the shore..._

_so the sun wouldn't notice..."_

He was so nervous.

_"The seaweed that wrapped its _

_arms around you"_

He took a deep breath;

_"The carpet on my cheek feels like a forest_

_And I run through the tall trees with your hand chasing me"_

Nico turned his head and opened his eyes.

_"The books that I keep by my bed are full of your stories_  
_That I drew up from a little dream of mine, a little nightmare of yours_"

Kevin stood up and put a hand on his heart;

_"To be us to take this plunge, to forgive and forget_  
_And be the better man, to be a better man, to be a better man"_

Nico sat up

_"So love me mother, and love me father, and love my sister as well-"_

"What are you doing?" Nico asked; "What's this so love me mother stuff?"

Kevin blushed; "Victoria told me to sing and she would come back"

"Oh... Then continue"

Kevin hated this;

_"The cat's silhouette as big as a monster _

_in this concrete jungle,_

_With street lights hanging their hats"_

Kevin tried to start again;_ "So-"_

Nico stood up and half sang; "So love me mother, and love me father, and love my sister as well-"

Kevin smiled, those weren't the next lines but Kevin continued;

_"So make all your last demands for I will forsake you"_

Kevin turned around and grabbed Nico's hands.

"Hey! What are you-" Nico began to say

"_And I'll meet your eyes for the very first time, for the very last" _Kevin sang, he raised one of his hands and pointed at Nico

Kevin smiled as wide as he could_; "So love me mother, and love me father, and love my sister as well"_

Nico started to sing again; _"So love me mother, and love me father, and love my brother as well?"_

Kevin nodded and started spinning Nico again. They both sang while dancing;

_So love me mother, and love me father, and love my sister as well_  
_So love me mother, and love me father, and love my brother as well_

Their hands were intertwined, Nico actually laughed;

___So love me mother, and love me father, and love my sister as well_  
_So love me mother, and love me father, and love my brother as well_

Kevin pulled on Nico's hands and brought him close to him, Nico's eyes were quivering like Nico was studying Kevin's face. Kevin never felt so bold but it felt so good, and he whispered; "_I met a man today... and he smiled back at me..."_

Kevin was taller than Nico so he leaned in closer to Nico's face, Nico also seemed to be leaning in too, their hands were the only thing keeping their chests apart; _"Now there are thoughts like these..." _

Nico's eyes were half closed.

_"that keep me on my feet..." _Kevin whispered

Nico said softly_; "that keep me on my feet..."_

Kevin touched Nico's cheek and closed his eyes.

"Kevin!" Victoria's voice yelled from the distance

Nico opened his eyes and threw Kevin's Hand away from his.

Kevin looked at him; "Nico-"

Victoria was standing next to him now; "Good job with the singing, but towards the end you weren't really singing anymore"

"I know" Kevin said.

Nico sat down on the floor next to the bags.

"I found out where we are!" Victoria said

"That's nice..." Kevin said

"Are you even listening?" She asked

Kevin stared at Nico, who returned to his sour face.

"Sorry, I'm just distracted..."

* * *

_A/N: Geez, this whole Greek mythology isn't easy. So bare with me okay? I'm trying to write original stuff here..._

_the song was Sloom by OF MONSTERS AND MEN_

_I'm thinking of writing other stories too, I don't know, anyone want to read something else by me?_

_As always I love reviews_


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